Bullets and Blades
by Nemo-Infinity
Summary: Amidst the conflict between G&K and Sangvis Ferri, a mysterious doll emerges, unlike any doll to ever be constructed. Its purpose is unclear. Is it a friend... or foe? Only time will tell.
1. The Virus

The scurrying of footsteps echoed through a cold valley. Snow heavily rained down despite it being in the middle of the day. A pair of metallic heels crunched in the snow with each step. The female individual panting in exhaustion, her expression weary but refusing to give in. Her tan-colored gun slung behind her as she pushed on through the snow, running from some unknown danger.

_I need to keep running! I have to, for everyone's sake... They're all depending on me!_

Despite her sluggish movement, the girl pushed forward without stop. She endured through the harsh weather, slowly feeling her power supply dwindle…

…

* * *

A tall sinister-looking robotic maid lingered in the remains of a burning command center. She had just given orders to her units to search the area for the fleeing AR team. They held precious data that she had intended to retrieve back to Master. She scowled at the thought of them escaping.

"Damn those useless hunks of metal! They had escaped death's doorstep by a hair…"

The maid was named Agent, commanded to recover valuable information for her Master. However, Griffin's AR team had taken that away from her and barely escaped. They were within her grasp. She was not done with them yet. All she had to do was capture one and use it as a bargaining chip for the data.

It wasn't over yet…

"You!" She commanded at a nearby dinergate, a small mechanical automaton that resembled a dog.

It responded by nervously shaking and slowly approached the glooming Agent.

"I have a special job for you… personally requested by Master," the maid said.

Part of her arm opened up, which she dug into and pulled out a small drive. She knelt to the small robotic machine.

"Take this with you and seek out the nearest Griffin command center. Find the factory and lay this chip against any of the machines, it doesn't matter what as long as it's connected to the factory. I don't care however you do it, but _**absolutely**_ do not get caught…" Agent quietly said to the dinergate, aggressively emphasizing her point. Her stare pierced through the tiny machine as it shook in fear, then quickly nodding.

"Good, now be on your way…"

Agent quickly got back up and dusted her dress off. The dinergate nodded once more and scampered off into the snowy distance.

She wouldn't allow herself to fail her master again, that's for sure…

…

* * *

The night glimmered with stars and the sound of crickets filled the area.

It had been a day since the dinergate had left Agent in search of a base. The little machine traveled far and wide in search of a command base using a small beacon that extended off of its back. The machine had no luck in finding one. Its thought of Agent turning it into a plate for her master's next meal was the only thing that kept it going.

When all hope seemed lost, he felt his beacon receive a weak signal off to his North. Quickly, it turned its beacon off to avoid any detection and excitedly ran over in its direction.

The dinergate scurried through tall grass, emerging out of the other side to a small little cliff with a small stream below. Unfortunately, in its excitement, it kept on running, unable to stop and was sent flying down.

It crashed and tumbled down to the ground, sending dirt clouds up. The small machine helplessly bounced off against the dirt and rocks.

Eventually, it landed with a loud thud, the chip sent flying out of its system into the stream. The dinergate saw this happen and began to panic. It frantically got up and bolted to the chip, lifting it out of the stream.

The chip was not in the best shape, receiving some damage from its fall. Some of its corners were slightly bent, but overall still kept its shape. The bigger issue was... it had been underwater and the dinergate could see small little statics of electricity bolting out of the drive.

The small machine let out a worrying beep. Its mission was possibly ruined because of this one mistake. Hoping for the best, it securely tucked it deeper inside itself and continued to the base.

…

* * *

Dinergate had just reached the eastern border of the base and was looking at what seemed to be a cafe. Using the darkness to cloak itself, the automaton ran deeper in, passing by the cafe to a different section of the base.

After a couple of minutes, it had arrived at a rather large building. Cameras were at every corner and the machine could only guess this was where the T-dolls were built.

Agent's words echoed through its digital mind.

"_**Absolutely**_ _do not get caught"_

It couldn't go in from the entrance so it had to find another way inside. Taking a detour around, it spotted a vent shaft slightly above it. The dinergate couldn't reach it but spotted some cardboard boxes nearby.

The little machine pushed the boxes around until it was able to reach the front of the vents. It crawled up the cardboard boxes, arriving at the covered vent at the top.

Using a close-range electromagnetic pulse gun mounted on its back, it blew open the vent covers and walked in. Sounds of machines and scientists got closer as it went deeper into the vents. Peering through the slits of the vents, it could make out what seemed to be a factory.

Giant mechanical arms carrying parts and cores were busy while scientists and engineers watched over and operating some of the machines.

The dinergate went further in and scouted for a safe spot to drop in. After waiting for some of the guards and scientists to disappear, it blew open a hole in the vents and dropped down. It safely landed on all four legs and scampered over to a nearby abandoned computer.

Reaching the screen, the dinergate used its mounted weapon to lift the drive and placed it against the computer.

Suddenly, the drive latched onto the screen like a parasite connecting to its host. Data began to unload into the computer, green numbers and letters streaked across the screen.

The single eye of the dinergate happily flashed green, but the drive began to spark and the data loading into the computer began to glitch. It looked like the damage it had taken from the fall and water had a major impact on the drive. The drive began to turn red hot and large volts were sparking out of it.

Suddenly the drive popped out from the screen, unlatching itself. It landed on the floor and for a moment, nothing happened. Then the device shook and shattered into a million pieces, all evidence erased.

The factory's power abruptly shut off, alarming everyone in the facility. This gave a chance for the dinergate to escape, blowing open a small hole through the facility's walls and dashed out, running back into the forest, eager to return to back to Agent.

Eventually, the power came back and everyone was left questioning what had happened.

Inside the computer, a malicious virus had entered the complex coding of the base's system. It was an all-new but insecure virus, incomplete after only a small fraction had been downloaded before the rest failed to connect.

In a far unknown area, a concealed doll grinned.

_It seems Agent has done her job..._

The mysterious robot was now able to enact her plan.

Pulling open a digital screen with the tip of her fingers, a blue screen appeared in front of her out of thin air.

"Hmph… it seems only a fraction of the virus had managed to get in…" the hidden individual sighed. "Whatever, this should be enough to do its job…"

She pressed the screen, activating the virus.

"It seems it won't be much of use for now… but it has its uses…" the mystery figure growing pessimistic of the situation, but she had more important matters to attend to.

Closing the screen with a swipe of a finger, she walked away, her boots clacking to the metallic floor.

* * *

At the factory of the base, the machines were busy at work. Sounds of automated whirrs and clanks resounded through the area.

The factory had been constructing two t-dolls, what the commander of the base had requested. Two was his current limit as he would need to purchase extensions to create more at once.

Suddenly, the mechanical arms building the t-dolls shuddered, stopping all movement in the factory. Scientists and engineers alike looked up to see what was going on.

The robotic arms had frozen in place, but after a couple of minutes, they were functioning normally. Workers had dismissed it as a small mistake, ignoring the incident and continued on their day.

What they didn't know…

Was the construction of a third T-doll had begun.

* * *

Hello! So I have been playing GFL for a while and I've been hooked with its characters and story. I'm still fairly new, so I have been reading up a lot on it. Hopefully, I don't mess up any lore within the story and have each character work smoothly. If you notice any mistakes, please point it out so I am able to fix it! Thank you for reading!


	2. An introduction

Darkness had taken over the day. A lone abandoned radar tower stood in the middle of a blizzard. The winter winds blew through the openings of the station.

A girl sat inside freezing, her coat wrapped around her as she clung onto her gun. She couldn't fall asleep because of the chilling temperatures and constantly putting up her guard. Twirling the green side bang of her hair, she worried about her friends, wanting to know how they are now. She let out a shaky sigh, able to see each breath as they warmly dissipated in the air.

_Just wait for me, everyone… I'll bring help…_

She finally dozed off from exhaustion. The blizzard continuing to howl across the midnight skies.

* * *

From metal and a core, he was born.

…

_-...-..-Wake-…-..Sangvis-... -...-virus…-.._

_-...-**one**….-..**of**-...-..**us**-...**now**-...-_

He woke up, startled by a voice in his head but was greeted to darkness. He felt around his surroundings. It seemed that he was stuck in some dark confined space, like some sort of capsule. He could barely move.

_Where was he? What was that voice?_ He felt his hands shaking. Shaking too much in fact.

"Eugh?!" He groaned as he gripped his head. It throbbed in pain as he could hear that same mysterious but somewhat familiar voice.

_-...-..-You-…-..Sangvis-...-..Listen-...-Commander…-.._

_-...-Follow….-..orders-...-..for-...now-...-_

The broken static voice repeated itself once more. He could barely pick up the words as the pain was too distracting.

_Sangvis? Listen to… Commander? Follow orders… for now? _

He was puzzled at the cryptic message in his head, feeling the pain settle down. Those were the only words he could make out of the unclear voice in his head.

But before he could piece together anything, he realized that he was being lifted.

A metal hanger had attached itself to his back. It was transferring him across the factory to the base through a dark tunnel. A blinding light was at the end of the path, which he raised his arms to his face instinctively to shield his eyes.

Emerging out of the tunnel, he realized he was now traveling through a glass tube. He observed the insides of the factory. What caught his eyes first was the various machines that operated in an assembly line constructing metal frames and glowing cores.

Chills crawled up his back as he felt the gaze of every doll and worker in the room. They watched him pass by, their expressions varying from surprise to outright confused. He reached the end of the room and continued down another dark tunnel.

He sighed, relieved to have gotten out of that room. It made him nervous about how everyone was looking at him.

The hanger that was carrying him suddenly took a sharp right turn, jerking him along as he was helplessly flailed around. It suddenly stopped in place in the dark tunnels.

_What is going on? Where the hell am I?_

Amidst his pondering, the tunnel floor beneath him opened up and he was dropped into a room, placed on a blue bench. Looking around, he realized that there were two other dolls with him in the area. They both stared at him with their mouths gaping wide in shock.

He looked away from their stares, slowly feeling uncomfortable as he sat far away from the two other dolls. The dead silence making it even worse.

_Oh god, someone get me out of here, please…_

* * *

_***clack clack clack***_

Running down the white hallways of the base, a certain individual was hastily buttoning up his red griffin coat, a signature for every G&K commander.

_Goddamnit! My alarm just had to stop working today!_

The commander turned the corner while trying to fix his tie, but he had bumped into someone.

"Ah, I apologiz- wait, Kalin?" The commander calling out to the person in front of him.

"Oh, commander! You're awake," the cheerful logistic officer, Kalina, greeted back. The girl was in her usual outfit, her orange hair tied up in a ponytail. In her hands, she held a touchscreen pad.

"The factory room is down this way, so you'll want to meet up with the new t-dolls in there," Kalin said, helpfully pointing down the hallway. "I'll be checking up on the weapons in a different part of the factory, so if you need anything, just call me through the comms!" She tapped the headset hanging around her neck.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I was just on my way there," the commander replied, finally centering his tie. "I'll be sure to remember that, I'll be on my way now!" He sped down the hallway, waving back at his secretary.

It had only been a week since he became a commander, selected for the position. He was getting the hang of the job, taking part in daily practice routines and learning his way around the base. Manpower was quite low during these times so G&K rushed to find qualified commanders to lead.

Reaching the doorway to the waiting room, he pulled off his cap and ruffled his short blonde hair, before comfortably putting the cap back on. Mentally preparing, he took a deep breath and exhaled. He was getting ready to put on a professional act, believing that this was the best way to approach every new T-doll.

Clapping his cheeks with both hands, he pulled out an id card and scanned it against the door. He entered the brightly lit room. Walking to the center, he turned and crossed his arms, presenting himself to the two female t-dolls in front of him.

One he recognized was Spectre M4, her dark blue and orange attire catching his attention first. She was an honest hardworking t-doll that he respected. Unfortunately, her personality was not exactly the best. But about the T-doll next to her…

"Good meowning, commeownder!" IDW saluted, her cat ears twitching with excitement. He's heard stories of this T-doll from other commanders. It looks like he's going to have to get used to listening to cat puns every day from now on.

"_Ahem_\- my name is Eden, but you can address me as commander," he held out his hand, both t-dolls accepting his handshake. "As you should know, I'm now in charge of this base and your safety, so I look forward to working with you both in the workplace and on the battlefield."

"Spectre M4, formally joining your ranks, sir! Um... Commander? Is there no welcoming party?" the t-doll shyly asked, twiddling her thumbs.

"Forget about that, what about him Commander?" remarked IDW, bringing up the elephant in the room. Surprisingly, Eden had not noticed the lonesome individual sitting at the end of the farthest bench.

"Oh? I was sure I requested for two dolls…" He pondered at the thought before returning to the situation. "No need to be shy, everyone is welcome here!" Eden beckoned over. The t-doll looked his way and listened, approaching the commander. Getting a closer look, Eden was left dumbfounded.

What he was looking at was a male t-doll with short white hair, about as tall as him, but what struck him was that he looked just like a Sangvis Ferri doll. Parts of him were black and white as were his clothes, like some of the dangerous dolls he has seen in his reports to avoid. But listening to Spectre and IDW, he was constructed and brought into the room like every T-doll. The male doll stared back with blue eyes.

"Hm… I'm sure you overheard my introduction but just to remind you, my name is Eden. May I ask what your name?"

"My name…. Uh… my name is…?" the doll voice quietly trailing off, unsure of what to say.

_My name? What was my name? Do I have one? _He held his head in dismay, Eden taking notice of this.

"I-It's ok! You don't have to stress about it too much!" Eden putting a reassuring hand to his shoulder. "Maybe now isn't the best time to ask, so don't worry about it.

"M-maybe…" the doll agreeing with the commander.

_This doll seems to be clueless… is it some sort of defect or broken doll? If it is, I'll have to take it __back to the factory to have it disassembled… though, how on earth did it make a male T-doll? Aren't the ones the factory makes all female? Hm… _

The commander was left in deep thought. It wouldn't be long until he would be interrupted by an incoming call coming through his earpiece.

"Hello, this is commander Eden. Kalin? What is it?" Eden spoke through the earpiece, talking to what seems to be his secretary across the other line. The three dolls watched their commander in curiosity.

"What do you mean to come? To the weapon room? Alright, I'll be on my way."

He closed the channel, stopping communication. Realizing that he couldn't leave these three unattended, he had an idea.

"Alright, we're going on a little field trip guys," Eden walking over to the door as he used his id card to open it. "I have some business to attend to and I figured it would be a good idea to show you guys around."

Spectre and IDW happily agreed and walked out while the male doll stood still,

"You coming?" asked Eden, gesturing him to come.

"Y-yeah… I am," the doll nervously replied. He walked outside, starting to piece what was going on.

_Follow the commander's orders for now_

Why did the voice tell him that? And what did it mean _for now?_ Everything was starting to confuse him as he followed the commander and the other T-doll further into the factory.

* * *

Reaching the weapon factory where the guns and accessories are manufactured, Eden left his group of dolls and went straight to Kalin. She was frantically going through a series of reports on one of the desks.

"Kalin? Why'd you call? You said you had something to show me?"

"C-commander! Um… how do I explain this…" his secretary muttered, rubbing her head. "I think it's better for you to see..." She pointed to a group of scientists circled at a table, rambling on at each other. On it was a strange weapon, a silver and black blade with a large chamber above the hilt of the "sword".

"What is that?" Eden questioned, pointing to the strange weapon.

"That's what they're trying to figure out…" sighed Kalina, laying her head against the desk. "I was going through the records of the manufacturing of each gun and I found this." She pushed a document across the table to Eden which he picked up to read.

"There's a blank space in last night's order? This was when I requested for the production of two t-dolls… wait, can you check the schedule of recent dolls constructed?"

During their talk, Eden's group had arrived, catching up to their commander. The male doll trailed behind the other two dolls but stopped in place after setting foot into the room. He felt something in the air, like some sort of spark.

Someone was calling out to him. More particularly - _something. _

Continuing into the room, he felt the connection get stronger, aimlessly leading him to the group of scientists. One of the members took notice of him.

"What's a doll like you doing here?" the scientist rudely asked, frowning at his sudden appearance. Ignoring his comment, he jumped up onto the table, causing an uproar amongst the group. He looked down at the strange weapon. It cried out to him, to wield it once more.

Eden took notice of his doll's disruptive actions, his secretary also picking up on the commotion.

"H-Hey! Stop right there! What the hell are you doing?" Eden yelled out to the t-doll, commanding him to cease. One thing he knew was that all T-dolls were manufactured to be controlled by a command input. This was normally used on the battlefield, but in emergencies, he could use it outside.

The male doll knelt down to reach out and grab the strange weapon, the source that called out to him. But before he could grasp the handle, he felt his body grow heavier until he could barely move a muscle. His hands were outstretched over the handle, so close yet so far.

_NO! Please… I'm just about there!_

The weapon screamed at him to pick it up. He knew some of his burning questions would be answered once he held it. He strained against the command input, but it was superior. Nothing could stop it.

Eden sighed in relief. "Now get off the table and come back," swiftly giving another command input.

The male doll felt his arm retract away from the blade, the connection being so close driving him wild.

_NO! Stop! It's right there! I just need to touch it!_

He pushed with all his might to defy the overpowering command.

That was when he felt something click inside of him.

Eden took notice of his frozen movement. "Hey! Get down from there! What did I say?"

Issuing another command should do it. But the doll stood there frozen. He stomped over, arms crossed.

To his surprise, he saw that the doll was slowly inching towards the blade, defying his order.

"I said stop!" Eden was getting closer, issuing one last order.

The doll felt his arms shake violently as it got closer to the sword before gripping onto the handle.

_Yes!_

Parts of his memories were resurging back to him, overwhelming his Digi-mind while putting enormous amounts of under constant stress.

"Eurgh?!" the male doll fell on all fours. He clutched at his face in torment and the other onto the weapon. Tightening his grip on the handle, he could feel it. The weapon felt like an extension to his body. It was a perfect fit.

Eden ran up to the doll and grabbed his arm, pulling him off the table. He forced the weapon out of its hands and grabbed his shoulders, forcing the doll to look at him directly. The weapon clattered to the metal floor.

"Why did you defy a command input? More importantly _how?_ And what the hell was that?" The commander shook him, bombarding him with questions.

Kalin, IDW, and Spectre watched the poor doll get shaken up.

"C-Commander!? I can explain!"

The doll escaped his grasp, backing away from him. It picked back up the weapon laying on the ground.

Eden was about to ask it another question until he was interrupted by a loud clank. The doll had slammed the tip of the blade into the ground, a deafening clang rang through the room.

"Before I can answer all your other questions commander, I have to answer the first one you asked from the start," the doll said to the shocked Eden.

To everyone's surprise, it saluted to Eden.

With a confident and loud voice…

"Commander! "_Gunblade" _model no. 03 reporting for duty!"

* * *

ok, I'm sick as hell still and it's been a while. My mind is not in the right place so if you find any mistakes, I apologize. I did my best proofreading this, but I'm not exactly the best at writing. Please point out any misconceptions when you do find them! Enjoy the story and thank you for reading!


	3. Welcome Home

Down the hallways of the Griffin base, its sleek modern design of black and white structures reflected the orange sunset. Warmly lit colors washed the entire hall through the glass windows. The base was separated into two sections, split by a large ravine that ran down the middle.

Two figures could be seen walking through a skyway to the opposite side. Their shoes clacked against the polished floor.

"Ugh… that was rough…," sighed a male t-doll as he ruffled his short white hair.

"Eh heh…it could've been worse, don't sweat it," said Kalina as she reassuringly patted his back.

"You didn't have _your_ insides inspected for hours…" he muttered tiringly. The past couple hours were not so forgiving for him as his commander, Eden, had him inspected by the scientists. Apparently, he had defied his commander, someone who is in charge of his T-dolls, capable of giving orders to control them. It was unusual for any normal doll to defy orders, but he had somehow done it. This led Eden to force him to stay behind and go through a full inspection for any faulty parts.

This process took longer than he had thought and lasted for hours. To their surprise, they found nothing wrong with him and figured it was just a malfunction.

They were also unable to figure out why his model design was so related to those called "Sangvis Ferri" (That's what he had heard). So they had sent him back on his way to the dorms with Kalina leading him.

With his sudden introduction back in the weapon factory, he could only remember the weapon model he wielded.

His unique weapon, the gunblade, is something that the G&K scientists have never seen before and are currently analyzing it in their labs.

The two continued down the skywalk, reaching halfway.

"So… uh… what do we call you now?" Kalina asked, sharing the same thought.

"I... don't know. I just can't seem to remember my real name," he frustratingly pounded his head, hoping to knock back some of his memories in his Digi-mind.

"Hey! Don't do that to yourself!" Kalina interjected, ironically giving him a playful punch to the shoulder. He rubbed his shoulder from the blow, glaring at her. She smiled, laughing and scrolled through her tablet, looking through any available dorms.

"Why not go for something simple for now, like... Blade?" the secretary commented while still focusing on the screen.

"Blade… huh. It's simple but I'm not too fond of it," shrugged the doll, unable to form his thoughts into words.

"Well better get used to it cause I'm calling you that from now on. It's simple as you said so it's easy to remember," Kalina clarified, tapping her head. The name search ending quickly just as how fast it had started. "Because~ Blade! I just found you a dorm room!" She called out to him using his newfound name.

"No turning back now, huh," grumbled Blade as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his black pants.

His white and black attire stood out from the rest of the other dolls' clothing, even creeping some out because of how familiar he looked to a Sangvis Ferri unit. He hoped he wouldn't have to be living with anybody, preferring to be solo.

Kalina and Blade reached the end of the skywalk to the other side of the base where different facilities inhabited. Reaching an elevator, the secretary pressed the button to go down and waited. While they were lingering around, Blade had another burning question in his mind.

"Hey, Kalin…" said Blade as he fumbled his hands around his pockets. "I have been wanting to ask you something…"

"Hm? Sure, ask away!" Kalina replied, her reply was just as he had expected. "Hohoho! You're not asking if I'm not single or not, are you?" She joked, chuckling with her hand over her mouth.

"Uh… I'm afraid you might have misinterpreted that, I'm not particularly interested...," Blade said with a straight face, turning her down immediately without hesitation.

_UWAH~! He's ruthless! _Kalina cried out in her head.

"I've been wanting to ask… what is Sangvis Ferri? I've been hearing that word quite frequently today, so I've just been curious about what it meant," questioned Blade, looking at her for an answer back.

"Oh! I'm surprised, you don't know who they are? Eh… this might take a while to explain," muttered Kalina, placing a hand to her chin. As this was happening, the elevator had arrived, the door opening in front of them. They both entered and she pressed the sixth button, each button corresponding to each floor. The lift shook and rattled as it went down deeper.

"Look, I'll send you some reports and studies made on the topic of Sangvis Ferri tomorrow. Tonight, commander wants me to work on "some" battle reports for the new dolls so I'll be really busy…" groaned Kalin as if she had been through this ordeal hundreds of times. "Battle reports… I've already done like 20 today…" she silently cried to herself.

Blade watched as his commander's secretary broke down in front of him, an awkwardness creating between them. The doors opened up with a ring and broke the embarrassing silence.

"I'll lead you to your dorm room now, hehe...," Kalina nervously chuckled, letting him get off first.

"Y-yeah"

Walking out of the elevator, he was greeted to a small lobby with a long hallway that ran down the center. Multiple metallic doors lined the walls. From what he could see, there were about twenty doors, ten on each side.

Kalina gestured him to follow which he listened to, trailing behind her as she led him to one of the doors. They stopped by a vacant room as Kalina was registering him into the system. A blue scanner by the door lit up as he got closer, the numbers 201 appearing on the screen.

"So this is where I'm going to be held…" murmured Blade as he tapped the scanner, examining its functions.

"Aw come on! Don't make it sound like we're gonna lock you up," pouted Kalina as she had just finished adding him to the registry. "There we go~ Now you're an official T-doll under commander Eden!" She handed him a small id card with a small picture of him, taken during the inspection.

"You'll need this to access your dorm and personal storage. It seems you'll be living alone. Don't lose it, alright?" Kalina said. She let out a deep yawn and stretched out her arms. "Hah… I'll be in the data room if you need anything. Welcome to G&K, Blade~"

She gave him a thumbs-up as she headed back up the elevator. Blade watched as the elevator doors close, waving goodbye. He sighed and looked at his id once more, grimacing at the terrible picture.

Placing it against the scanner, it identified the card and the metallic door slid open. He walked in, finding it smaller than he had expected. Everything was fit into a decently sized room aside from the bathroom, which was to his left behind a glass door. It was quite comfy if he were to tell the truth. The door silently shut behind him.

He took off his black boots and placed them by the doorway. Blade, for the first time, felt his feet touch the cold metal flooring. It sent shivers across his body. Walking to the center, a small slab of metal stuck out of the wall, which made the table with small stools underneath it. In the corner of the room was a bunk bed. A window along with a small walk-in closet was by the bed, where dolls would usually keep their clothes and respective weapons.

Lying on the bed was a set of blue pajamas and black work clothes. He took the clothes and tossed them onto the table, lying down on the bottom bed.

Blade closed his eyes, absorbing the serene atmosphere of his room.

Silence.

He liked it, being alone. It just felt natural to him. For once, he was kept to himself, given a chance to rest.

_What have I gotten myself into… how did I even get myself into this…?_

Blade continued to ponder on that thought before his stomach growled, his systems alerting him he needed to resupply on food or power.

_I just realized I haven't eaten at all since I've been here… _

There was a power socket in each room for dolls to recharge, but he was interested in visiting the cafeteria of the base.

Getting back up, he peered out the window. It was a view from inside the ravine, the dorms built within it. The sun wasn't completely gone, the day reaching its late afternoon. He figured he had still had some time to head over and grab a meal.

Enjoying his short time inside his new room, he slipped back on his boots and headed out to the cafeteria, id card in his pocket. The layout of the base was still unknown to him, but he got his way around through useful signs that gave directions.

Activity in the cafeteria was bustling as it was around time for dinner. Entering the cafeteria, a sudden hush came over the crowds as he had entered, murmuring and whispers in every direction. It took a couple of seconds before the cafeteria was back to its loud clamor.

Blade ignored the attention he was getting and strolled on down to one of the stalls to get a meal. He paid using his id card, unaware of how much was in it but gave no care. Lifting his tray, he strolled across the maze of occupied tables. Sitting over at an abandoned table, he started to dig in. It wasn't bad nor was it good, but he ate everything regardless.

As he was eating, nearby passerby's avoided him, both human and doll alike. Blade couldn't understand why but he could care less, continuing to eat his dinner. If he got lucky, he even earned some glares from some people which he scoffed at.

_These people need to know when to quit staring… _He silently thought to himself, feeling their prying eyes stare at him.

Blade finished his meal and got up to return the tray. He quickly left the cafeteria, the stares coming to a stop.

_Looks like I'm going to be eating late at night from now on, _he sighed, not wanting to receive such unwarranted attention.

Returning to his room, he went in and slipped off his boots. Blade collapsing atop his bed without changing. He thought to himself of the recent events that had happened in his life. But he gave up on thinking at all and frustratingly punched the metal wall against the bed.

The wall was fine, but he felt his arm rattle like it was… hollow? Lifting himself back up off the bed, he shook his right arm around hearing the same sounds. Grabbing his right forearm, he messed around the artificial skin.

After a couple of minutes of digging around, he felt a small indent and pressed down on it. Part of his forearm popped open.

_What the hell is this? I don't think the scientists ever caught this in their examination._

His arm was hollow as he had thought, but there was something on the underside of the cover.

_Hm? _Blade peered into the hidden compartment and finding a flame-like symbol painted against it.

_I never noticed this… wonder what this is?_

He continued to stare at the symbol as he lied back on the bed. Yawning, he gave up on thinking any further and closed the compartment. Fluffing out his pillow, he brought up the covers up to his neck, slowly falling into a deep sleep.

In the back of his mind - the meager virus lies undetected, slowly manifesting.

* * *

…

Long slender legs in black heels clacked against the pavement, its rhythmic sounds echoing through the room. Agent had arrived back to the secretly hidden Sangvis Ferri base. She gracefully curtsied to the figure sitting in front of her.

"What of the mission Agent…" A small figure crossing her legs, demanding an answer.

"It is done, Master," she replied. "I have sent Scarecrow and the others in search of the AR team as you have requested."

"Good, we have everything set in motion then," the figure pulling open a blue screen, a frown appearing on their face."It seems the virus is ineffective…"

"Master, it may take a while for it to properly develop back to its original size considering how the dinergate failed to deliver it fully," Agent responded. "I take full responsibility for failing that part of the task." The robotic maid bowing with her hand over her chest.

"You don't need to apologize Agent… it was not like we were going to use him immediately, given our current situation," the figure sighed as she closed the screen. "We just have to wait for the right moment…"

…

* * *

It was a new day and Blade was seen sitting on a bench by one of the factory rooms. He had woken up to a tired Kalina banging on his door and was told that him that he was called over to the labs. She assured him that she would give him the Sangvis Ferri documents after.

There he was waiting for whatever reason he was summoned over for, still in his black and white clothes, not having time to change. The lab doors slid open, a man in a dirty lab coat and messy long hair with a large bag in his hands emerged out of the room. He noticed Blade sitting close by and beckoned him over.

"Ah, so you must be the infamous doll," said the long-haired male. The man had hair reaching up to his shoulders and partially covering half his face. "I've heard of you through the rumors."

_Rumors? It's only been a day since I've been here… _Blade thought to himself, not particularly happy considering what these rumors could be.

"I've called you over because of this here," he excitedly opened the bag to pull out his gunblade. "This is truly a magnificent weapon! It was an honor analyzing this~!" The man returned the gunblade back to Blade which he gratefully took.

Blade noticed that his gunblade came attached to leather-strapped belts, acting as a sheath.

"I took up some my precious time to add some accessories to your gunblade as a way to repay you," the man said as he saw Blade's confused look. "Just latch these straps diagonally across your chest and you'll be able to carry your gunblade on your back. I've made sure they fit tightly to your weapon so no need to worry about it falling off!"

"Uh… thank you? You really did not need to do this…" Blade felt like he owed the man something now.

"N-Nononono, please! I was just overjoyed on working on such an interesting gun!" the man ecstatically replied, nearly begging to Blade. "Oh! How rude am I. I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Aster, one of the scientists that research new methods for G&K's weapons."

Aster quickly took Blade's hands and shook them. Letting go, Blade was confused with the situation that was playing out.

"I was called over for a meeting with other scientists in a separate base, so this is my only chance to give this back and to properly meet you," Aster clearly excited to see Blade in person. "Not only that, I guess the rumors were true… you really do look like a Sangvis Ferri doll…" He observed Blade's appearance, looking up and down at him.

This caught Blade's attention. "Sangvis Ferri? I've been wanting to learn-" He was suddenly cut off by a loud ringing.

"Oh I apologize, phone call, give me a moment please if you would," Ian pulling out a phone from his lab coat and turning around to talk in private.

"Ah… yes, yes… erm, no. Wait wait wait, I'll be on my way!" the scientist stuttering out words as he fumbled to close his phone before turning back to Blade. "I must apologize once more, but I am very late for my ride! As you might not know, I work under a different commander and only happen to be here to visit a colleague of mine. It looks like you'll have to tell me whatever you wanted to tell me another tim- oh dear I must be on my way! It was a pleasure meeting you!"

Quickly waving goodbye, he fumbled with his bag and ran off down the hallway. Blade watched Aster turn the corner, skidding down the way as he dashed off with his bag in hand.

_Can I ever get my questions answered? Ugh… _sulked Blade. Well, now he had his gunblade back.

Listening to what Ian had said, he strapped the leather bounds together across his chest, the gunblade comfortably hanging on his back. Moving and twisting around, Blade couldn't feel any discomfort. The handle was easy to reach as he just had to reach over his shoulder to pull out his gunblade. Overall, he was impressed with Aster's handiwork. He would have to thank him later.

With his weapon back on him, he headed to his room to change and go for breakfast.

* * *

...

She had gotten out of the snow and into a forest. Running through the thick bushes, the doll pushed forward.

Stopping behind a thick tree, she peaked out, her light green and brown clothing nearly camouflaging her with the environment.

A small group of vespids was patrolling around the area. They were of Sangvis Ferri, combat dolls that carried long-range assault rifles. Their visors glowed a bright purple as they looked around.

Pulling her head back, the doll took a deep breath and she gripped onto her cream-colored gun. It was time to act.

One of the vespids heard movement over to her left which she signaled to her other group members. Raising her gun, she slowly made her way over. Quickly, the Vespid spun around the thick tree trunk ready to fire but found no one. Lowering her gun, she signaled a false alarm.

As she was done signaling, the vespid felt someone grab her by the neck, silencing her, and jam a combat knife through the neck, killing the doll instantly. It crumpled to the floor as her attacker slid back into the forest.

The now three vespids realized the fourth member was gone for a while, their group leader telling them to stay alert. They circled around, backs facing each other as they covered each angle.

Using their visors, they searched the dense forest around them. One of the vespids spotting a figure tossing something towards them.

Landing between their feet, a flash grenade tumbled over to the group. Realizing what was happening, the vespid was about to alert her group but was suddenly silenced by a bullet through her skull. The vespid fell to the ground, her helmet visor cracked with a visible bullet hole.

Before the other two could react, the flashbang went off, blinding and stunning them. The vespids began firing randomly in hope of landing a shot against their attacker. But to no avail, they were quickly shot down, the entire squad eliminated.

The doll dropped down to the crumbled bodies, searching their corpses for anything she could use.

All she could find was a couple of MRE's that would only last for a day. Their ammo incompatible with her gun, making it useless as she tossed the magazine away.

She sighed and stood back up, slinging her gun across her shoulder.

_I'll try one more time…_

Grabbing the radio attached above her chest, she tuned in to the G&K stations in hopes of contacting anyone.

"This is M4A1, leader of the AR team of 16LAB. Our group has been separated and need immediate help! Can anyone hear me? Please respond! … Anyone…?"

M4A1 waited for a response, silence overtaking the other side. She was growing frustrated, a bitter expression upon her face as she turned the radio off. It seems she would have to keep moving forward for a bit longer...

* * *

I've been researching the lore and wow, there is so much I need to know. Very interesting though, but my mind hurts. As per usual, if you spot any mistakes or misconceptions, feel free to let me know so I could change it! Updates will probably be slower because of college portfolio preparations. Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	4. New Commanders in Town

M4A1 found herself back trudging through the snowy environment. Numerous trees lost their leaves to the frosty winter. She continued forward with an agile but quick pace.

A whirring sound filled the area, the sounds of a drone scouting the area. M4A1 quickly dropped down against the base of one of the trees, concealing herself from being spotted. Peeking out of her position, she located the drone flying above the bare trees.

Raising her assault rifle at the drone, M4 gripped the handle and placed her finger over the trigger. Scoping in, she waited for the right moment to fire. Tracking the drone until it had gotten closer, she took the shot.

The sound of single gunfire rang through the empty forest.

M4A1 was by the fallen drone, cutting it open. She pulled out the battery pack that powered the drone and stored it in one of the bags attached to her waist.

_This is better than nothing… _the doll quietly thought to herself.

Picking herself back up, she moved out of the surrounding area to avoid any more encounters. It was far too risky to stay in the area judging from the drone's arrival.

...

* * *

Aster slumped in his chair, sighing as the conference of commanders and scientists alike had just ended. He swiveled his chair left and right, his long hair swaying along.

Most of the people who participated in the meeting had already left. Aster felt a presence behind him. A sudden shock of cold touched his cheeks, yelping at the contact.

"Eek?!" He jumped in his chair, turning to the culprit. It was Eden holding out a chilling can of iced coffee.

"Here, I got you something to stay awake after that boring-ass meeting," the commander laughed as he tossed the can over to the scientist. Aster caught it single-handed, frowning at him as he rubbed his cold cheek warm.

"Hmph, I forgot you were even here," he grumbled, cracking open the can and taking a sip of the drink. Coffee was what he needed right now. Eden knew him too well.

"No need to thank me. I already know, I already know," Eden grinned, raising both his hands in the air before drinking his canned drink.

"Haha, just shut it. I bet your ass is jealous of all the shit that comes out your mouth," retorted Aster, grinning back. They were good friends and threw insult after insult back, all in good jokes.

"Agghhh, can you guys just shut up for a good five minutes...," a different voice grumbled. It came from someone sitting in one of the seats with a blanket covering them. They laid against the conference desk, trying to sleep.

"Ohoho~! Look who's still here," chuckled Eden as he strolled over to the cloaked figure.

He stopped by them, propping himself against the desk as he took another sip of his iced coffee. "I figured you had left to sleep in your room."

"Shut… up…" the person uttered, wrapping the camo blanket around them tighter.

"Uh… I'd advise you for your own safety to not piss her off," Aster suggested, hoping Eden to take heed in his advice.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Eden sighed, but shrewdly grinning after. "I guess all the weight she gained from constantly eating and sleeping is tiring her ou-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the figure leaped out of her seat as she grabbed his head and put him into a chokehold.

"I'd like to for you to finish that sentence, Eden?" the female figure threateningly growled, squeezing tighter.

"Ack! H-help?!" Eden choked out, reaching out towards Aster.

"I told you…" sighed Aster as he did not want to end up in that mess. He took a sip from the can while watching the girl choke Eden.

"You traitor!" cried the commander, starting to feel lightheaded. He rapidly tapped the arm wrapped around his neck, tapping out. She let go and he collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.

"_Tch_! I just wanted to sleep after that boring meeting," groaned the female commander. She was dressed like everyone else but had taken off the signature red coat, wearing only a white shirt, a black shoulder holster, and a similar colored tie. A black choker decorated with a small shield wrapped around her neck. She pulled the front of her shirt, loosening the area around her collar.

"Helian's going to go off if she sees your not clothed properly, Gentiane," Aster commented, knowing how strict their officer was.

"Cloth regulations are stupid… I wish Helian wasn't so tough on us for it," sighed the named Gentiane, one of the newer commanders G&K had employed along with Eden. Together, they had graduated from school at the same time. She was assigned to station 794 in Sector 09 while Eden was in station 786, their bases nearby from one another.

Eden was coughing on all fours, breathing heavily. He got back up using the conference table as support.

"I hope she catches you," Eden coughed out, risking his life at this point.

"What did you say?" Gentiane threatened once more, grabbing the front of his coat, pulling him closer.

"That's right, I said I hope she catches you," he growled back, both bumping foreheads, facing each other. Aster watched as he sighed at their immaturity. He just wanted to go back and test out the gunblade some more.

Suddenly, a video call appeared on the board of the conference room, a stern woman appearing on it. All three stopped what they were doing to see what was going on.

"Hmph, you youngsters are the only ones here as I expected…" said the woman, crossing her arms. "I have something to say after you two are done with you nonsensical bickering."

"Y-yes Miss Helian…" the two new commanders simultaneously muttered, putting a stop to their fight and faced the screen.

"Aster, I'd like for you to leave as this is classified information for these two commanders. I apologize," Helian said to the scientist.

"Whatever you say, missus," Aster shrugged, getting up to leave. "I'll see you two later." He walked out of the room, waving goodbye as the sliding door shut and locked.

"Now, I'd like to report to you on a very important detail. Words from above have told me you two will be assisting me in my work."

Gentiane and Eden both nodding.

"As you both know, there have been more frequent attacks from the Sangvis Ferri without prior notice. This has been concerning the higher-ups."

"Uh… but aren't we inexperienced for this mission?" commented Eden as Gentiane gave him an elbow to shut up.

Helian sighed and continued. "I know this might be stretching it a bit, but we don't have the time or manpower to spare. But don't worry you two. Judging from your past results, you both are more than qualified for this mission. Together, I'm sure you can pull it off."

The new commanders nodded once more, understanding her words.

"I know we are currently at station 794, but I'd like for you, Eden, to call some of your troops over. Gentiane here will start the mission as you get prepared for your tasks."

Helian turned to Gentiane. "According to the latest report, enemy movements were detected behind the fields around here. We're guessing those are Sangvis scouts. They're very few in number, but we can't let them roam freely like this. At your commander center Gentiane, I have marked the designated locations where you should dispatch your troops. You're objective for now is to destroy the enemy commander center and prevent any intel from leaking."

Gentiane saluted and nodded, confirming to Helian her duty.

"Eden will join you once he is finished with his preparations, so that is all commanders. Do your best and show us what you're worth."

"Yes, mam!" The two understanding their objective.

"Oh, before I go… Gentiane, wear your clothes properly next time," Helian glared directly at the female commander before the video call ended.

The commanders stood quietly in the silence of the conference room.

"Looks like I got my wish," Eden grinned, turning to Gentiane.

"Oh shut up!" She punched him in the shoulder.

* * *

Back in station 786…

Blade had just finished eating lunch, deciding to take his meal outside the cafeteria and to his room. Putting aside the tray, he leaned back against the wall on his stool.

_What even is my purpose in this place… everyone has a part in something while I just linger around here… _

He sighed as he closed his eyes, enjoying the quiet of his room. A knocking at his door broke the silence.

Getting up, he strode over to the door and it slid open to reveal Kalina.

"Hello~," she greeted him, waving in front of him. "It looks like the commander has assigned you a task!"

"R-Really?!" Blade excitedly said, bringing his face closer to Kalina's as she backed off.

"Y-you don't have to be that excited for it, eh hehe," the logistic officer said as she scratched her cheek.

"What do you mean? I finally get to practice and use my gunblade!" He pulled his blade out, admiring his weapon.

"Y-you know there's a training area, right?" Kalina mentioned.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Yeah, it's by the factory and that's where most dolls go to train."

"I'll... make sure to remember that." He could've spent his time practicing instead of lounging around his room with nothing to do.

"Well… what's my task?" the doll urging Kalina to give him an answer, finally given a task.

"About that…"

* * *

"What."

Blade soon found himself in the data room sitting by Kalina, as she had led him there. His new task was to prepare combat reports for the dolls getting ready to head over to station 794 to assist in a mission.

_WHAT THE HELL COMMANDER?! _He cried out loudly in his mind, sulking as he was writing.

"Here Blade, I'll handle half of this pile while you have the other~," Kalina happily gave him a huge pile of papers while she placed another huge pile on her desk.

"Hahaha, I love my job!" she laughed, obviously gone insane as she downed another cup of coffee. Kalina went through each report and wrote down whatever was necessary while Blade was crying to himself. She felt great as she finally had someone else to suffer this terrible position.

_She's a goddamn sadist! What did you do to turn her like this Eden?! _

Back in station 794, Eden sneezed at his mention as Gentiane looked at him in disgust.

Doing his assigned task, he went through the reports and filed them into a box.

Hours passed by and it was getting darker. He had nearly gone through the entire pile, bags forming under his eyes as he continued to do the same thing over and over again. Looking over at Kalina, she was humming to herself still powering through.

Thinking to himself, he thought about the dolls assigned to the mission over at station 794.

_That could've been me… AGH, I CAN'T HANDLE THIS! _

Blade slammed the desk in frustration and begrudgingly finished the rest of his combat reports.

…

* * *

Eden had contacted Kalina to send some of his echelons over to Gentiane's base. The two commanders standing over a large lit table with the map of the Sangvis occupying the area.

Gentiane had already started the assault, directing her echelons with precise movements to draw out the Sangvis Ferri troops into sniper and machine gunfire.

"ARSMG squad push in! FNC stop eating your damn chocolate and focus firing!" Gentiane yelled into the comms. Eden watched her direct her troops, occasionally correcting some of her mistakes.

"MG3, don't get reckless! FN-49 pull back, those prowlers are approaching you!"

...

Eventually, they had wiped the entire Sangvis squad and destroyed their communication systems. Gentiane collapsed in her seat as Eden clapped.

"Wow… didn't know you were such a natural in being a proper commander," he complimented her, impressed with her tactics. "None of them got seriously injured."

"Well yeah, that's how I do it. I would want to see my troops coming back in one piece," she tiringly sighed. "Urgh… you command the next mission… I want to sleep."

"The operation went smoothly. You did quite well, Gentiane…" The screen was suddenly occupied with a video call of Helian. Gentiane instantly sat back up, her back straightened. Eden had his arm over her chair and looked over her shoulder.

"You too, Eden. Both of your performance against the Sangvis forces far exceeded my expectations," Helian put a hand to her hip. "No matter what the future has in store for us, I thank you for being here today."

A call could be heard across the other side. "Sorry, give me a moment."

The screen paused and Eden patted Gentiane's shoulders giving her a brief thumbs up. She grinned back, glad that he wasn't being a jerk all the time.

"Sorry for the wait, you two. I just received a call from HQ. I'll be giving you an important mission. Let me confirm the intel first. I'll see you in a bit." Helian closed the call, leaving Gentiane and Eden to themselves.

"Finally!" Gentiane got out of her seat and ran to the bed in the corner. "Sleeping time!"

Eden facepalmed, having just complimented her as she went to scurried underneath the sheets.

"I'll handle the next mission I guess," he took over her seat and swiveled the chair around to face her. She was in her bed, facedown deep in her pillow. He ruffled his blonde hair and leaned against her chair awaiting Helian to return…

* * *

…

Blade slammed the pen against the desk and rose out of his seat, victorious in his battle against the reports.

"FFFUCCCCKKK THISSS!" He screamed, pulling at his short white hair. Grabbing his cup, he downed another cup of coffee, kindly provided by his logistics officer, Kalina.

Kalina had just finished hers and watched this unfold, grinning at the spectacle.

"We managed to get through today's reports…" she sighed, getting up out of her seat. Collecting all the papers she had written into a cardboard box, she placed it atop a metallic filer.

Blade had just finished lamenting his existence, grabbing his reports and placing them by Kalina's.

"Hey, I know we just finished but want to head to the cafe?" Kalina asked, pointing back at the doorway.

"Sure… like I've got anything to do…" Blade was drained from writing combat reports all day, grabbing his gunblade leaning against the side of the desk and latched it to his back. He followed Kalina, walking side by side.

Together they quietly crossed the skywalk bridge, illuminated by hanging lights as the windows showed the dark starry night. Eventually, they reached the cafe and sat at the bar.

"I'd like the usual…," muttered Kalina as the two of them collapsed atop the bar table. "Hey Blade… order something, it's on me…"

"I'll have what she's having…" mumbled Blade, putting his head in between his crossed arms.

"Ara~ it seems you brought a friend," said the bartender as he could feel her give out a mature aura. He brought his head up to see the bartender, a woman with brown-orange hair done in a casual ponytail in a white sleeved shirt with a brown apron and blue trousers. A blue sailor ribbon wrapping around her collar as she stared back, smiling. Blade felt some major mother vibes looking back.

"Ah! You must be Blade, I've heard of you from the dolls that drop by here," the bartender delightfully said, clasping her hands together.

"Springfield… coffeeeeee," groaned Kalina, her face planted against the countertop.

"Alright Kalin, no need to be demanding," Springfield chided, rolling up her sleeves and worked on the coffee machine behind her.

"So… what have you heard of me?" Blade asked, guessing he should come up with something to talk about to pass the time. He was also partially interested in what she has heard about him.

"Hmm, the first thing I heard was that you were a male t-doll, quite unusual for the factory to be producing," she replied, grabbing two white cups out of a cupboard.

_Well that's what I figured... _Blade could tell from the abundant amount of female dolls within the base.

"- Also that you were part of the Sangvis Ferri and plotting to destroy the G&K inside out~" Springfield casually hummed as she poured the brewed coffee into the cups.

She placed the cups in front of Kalina and Blade. "Don't worry, I don't actually believe that. That's just unbelievably rude," Springfield pouted, crossing her arms. "Who would just spread lies like that...

"Don't worry, it's not like it's affecting me in any way, but thank you," he accepted the cup of coffee and took a sip. Despite having multiple cups of coffee from Kalina, this one tasted really good for some unknown reason. He downed the entire cup in a matter of seconds, letting out a warm breath as he finished. "Oh yeah, Kalina. I needed those Sangvis Ferri repor-."

"I'll hand it over after this…," Kalina cut him off. "Coffeeeeeee~"

She grabbed the cup and started drinking it. She let out a tired sigh but suddenly realizing something. "Wait, Springfield? What are you doing here? I thought you were part of the echelons that were sent over?"

"Ehehe, I was going to go after serving you, Kalina. You always come to the cafe for my coffee after finishing up your combat reports, so I figured I'd stay behind to treat you before I leave," she said as she took off her apron. "I'll have one of the coworkers manage this cafe for a while until I return. I'll be missing you, Kalina~."

"W-wait!" Blade interrupted, now fully wide awake. "How're you going to station 794? I'm sure all the cars have been taken or are being used right now."

"Who said I was traveling by wheel?" giggled Springfield, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'll be taking a helicopter with two other members who stayed behind. That way we'll be able to reach the base faster."

_This is my opportunity to get the hell out of here! _Blade thought to himself.

"I have a request!" he desperately asked, bowing to her.

"Huh?" Kalina and Springfield both said.

"Please take me with you! I absolutely hate my job and want to be participating in the frontline!" Blade begged, clenching his teeth.

"Wha- it's only the first day! I need help on combat reports!" yelled Kalina, pissed at the thought of doing all the combat reports by herself.

"Hm... this is a problem…" Springfield whispered, placing a hand to her chin as she pondered. She looked at Blade for a while as he still maintained a bowing position, the look on his face in a serious frown.

"Ha… fine, you can come along," she gave in, feeling guilty if she turned him down after what he's been through at the base.

"Wha- Springfield?! What about the commander's orders to only bring his 1st and 2nd echelon?" interjected Kalina, trying to find a way to keep Blade from staying so she wouldn't have to end up working alone.

"Stop trying to keep me here for your sadistic torturing of writing combat reports!" retorted a pissed off Blade, looking back up to Kalina.

"Hey! It's not my fault Eden gives me a shit ton of reports to do!" she growled back. The two clashed against each other until Springfield stepped in between them.

"You guys, stop acting like children!" she pouted. "Listen, Blade... If you want to come, there's only one requirement!"

Blade turned to his savior and spoke up. "Yes! Anything! I'll do anything!" Immediately, for the first time, the look in her eyes sent shivers down his spine.

"Ara~ anything you said?" grinned Springfield, giving him a devious smile. "I'll make sure to note that when the time comes~ so pack your stuff as we'll be leaving in a couple of minutes."

"Y-yeah, I'll be back," Blade said as he got out of the room both feeling overjoyed and frightened for his future. Looking back, he saw Kalina sulking as Springfield cheered her up, patting her back.

He ran as fast as he could to his room and put his meager belongings into a duffel bag.

...

It was dark as he, Springfield and Kalina walked out to the runway. The ground was lit with small lights outlining the runway for planes to see.

Springfield had changed out of her work clothes and into her normal attire, akin to the revolutionary war uniform. Behind her was Blade carrying multiple bags, including his own. He offered to help her since she was accepting of him but immediately regretted that decision.

On him were 4 different bags hanging off of multiple parts of his body. Kalina laughed at him as they crossed the runway over to the helicopter pads.

"We're over here!" Springfield cried out to the two other members, waving at them. Blade struggled up the elevated platform the helicopter pad was on. Reaching the top, he carefully placed the bags down and collapsed to the floor in a tired mess.

"Thank you for waiting for me~!" Springfield ran up to the two other members and giving them hugs.

"I-It's not like we were going to leave you behind! We could've left earlier if it wasn't you…," a doll with long straight wine red hair pushed away from Springfield's hugs. Her personality is quite clear of a "tsundere".

"Don't say that WA, you would wait for anyone," a younger-looking doll appeared out of the helicopter.

The two members standing before Blade were SV98 and WA2000, two other snipers along with Springfield.

"Hmph? There's a new face I don't recognize. A newcomer?" WA2000 looked down to see the disheveled Blade. She noticed his Sangvis Ferri-like features and instinctively went for her gun strapped over her shoulder.

"W-Wait!" Springfield stopped WA from doing anything harmful to Blade. "If you have not heard, this is Blade, the rumored male t-doll that was recently produced." She gave him a hand to get back up which he gratefully took.

"Oooh, so you're the one I've been hearing about!" SV said as she walked around him to observe his features. "Cool looking weapon!" She prodded the gunblade latched to his back.

"It's my weapon, the gunblade," Blade assured the blonde-haired rifle which she was in awe at.

"So you're good at close-combat?" asked SV which he could only shrug at. "Cause you can leave the long-range sniping to me!" She proudly said, putting a fist to her chest.

"Don't forget the two of us SV, hmph," WA pointed out, the two senior rifles substantially having loads more experience compared to the younger doll. "L-let's go! I don't want the commander to be kept waiting… not like I cared or anything!"

Altogether, they carried the bags into the helicopter and were ready for take-off, the soldier in the cockpit giving a thumbs up.

As Blade was about to join the dolls inside, Kalina came up to him.

"Blade! Before you go, you wanted the reports right?" she yelled behind at him as the rotor blades steadily got louder.

"Huh?! Oh- yeah!" Blade responded, turning to Kalina as he covered his ears.

"I'll send them over digitally to your mainframe while you're in the helicopter!" she shouted back, covering her ears as well.

"W-what?! I can't hear you!"

"Just go already!" She pointed him to go inside as she dashed away from the pad.

Blade could barely hear her but understood that she wanted him to go inside already. He climbed into the helicopter, WA closing the doors behind him. Springfield connected him to their interlinked voice call so they were able to talk to each other through the sounds of the rotor blades.

"What did she want?" asked SV as she sat in front of him.

"Uh.. something about documents I wanted earlier. It's nothing important." He dismissively waved. As he was waving, his lower wrist started to glow a light blue.

"Oh, it looks like you got a message!" SV pointed to his wrist. "What's it say?"

"Huh? Wait it can do that?" Blade was somewhat stunned to find out what his body could do.

"You didn't know that? I thought all dolls knew after production. It's just an instinctual thing," she shrugged, fiddling with her rifle.

Blade tapped the little blue square light and a small menu extended out, indicating his health and status as well as the others connected to him. It gave out a faint luminous blue as he touched around the translucent window. A white envelope symbol blinked red which he pressed, the digital menu soon morphing into a series of documents he could scroll through.

Written on the papers in bold glitching blue letters were the words, _**Sangvis Ferri Industrial Manufacturing Company**_.

_These are the documents I asked for… thanks, Kalina. _Blade silently acknowledging his logistics officer. _I'll read these when I'm alone… _He closed the screen and peered outside to the starry night.

From what he heard, it would take roughly half a day to reach station 794. He tucked his arms in between his shoulders and leaned against the door, listening to the steady rhythm of the rotating blades. Blade felt himself get drowsier, the calm ambiance of the others talking got quieter as he zoned out. It seems this journey would take a while, falling asleep as the helicopter flew across the dark skies.

In the distance, a camouflaged Jaeger spots the helicopter through its scope. Tuning into its internal comms installed within her, she reports…

_**Infiltrator has left the vicinity.**_

_**...**_

* * *

Wow this chapter came out faster than I anticipated. Well, my portfolios are coming to a close so I'll be able to write more! Hoorah! (As well as play games hehe) You know the drills. If you spot any mistakes or misconceptions regarding the story and lore parts, please let me know so I could properly fix and learn. I'm still pretty fresh to GFL so there's a crap ton I need to know like wtf is operation cube and singularity and shjt like that. Oh my god, my head hurts just thinking about that. I'll be working on a different story to balance my uploading between this one and the other I have, so don't expect another "fast" chapter like this. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story~!


	5. Discovery

This is Jaeger 304 in squadron 3.7

We are in position

…

Recite the mission details?

...

Take the target back alive…

_or __**dead**_

* * *

"Bla…. Wak… up!"

Blade stirred in his sleep, a muffled voice calling out to him. A hand grasped his shoulder frantically shaking him.

"Blade! Wake up!"

An explosion shook the helicopter, promptly waking him up. He opened his eyes to a smoke-filled helicopter. It was still night, the dark covering their surroundings.

"What the hell is going on?!" Blade yelled, coughing as he brought his head down to avoid inhaling the smoke.

Before the others could respond, the tinkering of bullets rained down on his door, answering his question.

"We've been ambushed!" The pilot yelled through the connected comms. "Shit! It's too dark to see any of them! We're in for a rough ride!"

"Just focus on getting us out of here!" WA screamed, gripping her rifle close to her body.

More bullets barraged the helicopter's sides as it flew.

"Damn it! They managed to hit the engine?!" the pilot grunted followed by a cough. With force, he jolted the control stick up, keeping the helicopter flying straight.

"They must have snipers aiming at us!" Springfield speculated, holding onto the handles inside the aircraft.

"One of you contact station 794! My hands are full right now and I can't afford to multitask!" the pilot cried out as he tugged at the control stick. "We're two or three hours away from them!"

"I-I've got it! It's in my bag!" Blade volunteering, his bag within arm's reach. Another volley of bullets rained down on his door, the helicopter jerking around as a result.

"AHH!" WA shrieked, holding onto the handles attached to the roof. Her calm and focused personality broken into a panic.

Blade kept his head under and unbuckled himself out of his seat to reach for his duffel bag. As he managed to get hold of it, the door had taken too much damage and finally broke. It unhinged off the helicopter and was sent down to the dark forest.

The sudden disappearance of the door made an air draft that pulled Blade out of the aircraft with help of the constant shaking of the aircraft.

"W-what? Shit!" Blade cried out. He had fallen out of the helicopter and managed to grip the belts of his seat as he hung off, dangling off the edge with a bag in his other hand. Looking down, he could make out the treetops a couple of meters below him. The aircraft seemed to have taken too much damage forcing the pilot to drop to a lower altitude.

"B-Blade!" SV yelled out to him. She carefully reached out, not wanting to get pulled out by the winds. Her hand slowly inched towards him as he desperately gripped onto the belt.

"A-Almost… there!"

"Stop!" Springfield pulled SV back in time as a bullet whizzed past her head. It started to ricochet off the walls as WA screamed in terror. Miraculously, it had hit no one and Springfield let out a sigh, but that moment of rest would be brief. The snipers hidden in the dark forest began to shoot at the opening and Blade.

"Goddamnit! What the hell's going on back there?!" the pilot grunted as he was fixated on steering the aircraft properly.

Blade could feel his grip start to slip, slowly getting looser. Bullets deflected off his gunblade as they were aiming at his back.

Until one had pierced into the arm holding onto the belt. Pain erupted throughout his forearm as the bullet stung and burned where it had dug into. His face contorting to a tormented scowl, clamping down on his teeth to hold back from howling in pain.

_N-No! Fuck!_

He couldn't handle it anymore, finally letting go.

Blade felt as if time had slowed down in front of him in the next moments. Too many things were happening at once.

Springfield and SV were yelling out to him, hands outstretched to reach but he was already too far.

Bullets whizzed by him targeting the aircraft.

WA's screams could be heard as she took cover.

He could see small flames coming from the back of the helicopter, presumably the engine that the pilot mentioned.

All of this was happening in front of him as he was sent plunging into the darkness.

"BLADE!" cried Springfield, watching him fall into the snowy dark forest.

"It's useless! He's lost! There's no point in going back, we need to first get hell out of here!" The pilot explained, moving the helicopter forward without stopping.

The pilot was right but she just couldn't accept it. It hurt her to know that she might have lost another comrade… like those in her past.

The helicopter flew away out of range of the Jaeger's position.

In the sniper squadron, the Sangvis Ferri troops knew what to do next.

...

"_Prepare to collect the body of the intended target"_

Agent's commanding words rang through every SF doll's mind

* * *

In the cover of darkness, M4A1 sat on the top floor of an abandoned house. The wooden roof and flooring rotting away, moonlight shining down into the decaying home.

Taking out the battery she had previously picked up, she connected a wire from it to a plug on the back of her neck. Power slowly seeped into her body. She sighed at the feeling and pulled the cloak around her tighter.

Lately, SF patrols have risen dramatically probably the result of a new ringleader. She needed to get out of this sector and into Griffin territory where she would be able to get into contact with the G&K commanders tasked with operation "Sugarcube".

Previously, she took a risk and contacted Persica which she was told they were mounting a rescue operation… but ever since, she had no contact with Griffin signals.

_When will this end… _M4 sighed, putting her head in between her knees.

_Sop, M16, STAR… I hope you guys are doing better than me..._

"Isn't this place completely abandoned?"

M4 heard an unfamiliar voice and quickly grabbed her gun. She peeked outside of the broken windows.

"I was sure there was an ID signal that vanished here…"

She spotted a small doll munching on a chocolate bar with a worried looking rifle doll.

_Griffin dolls! This is it, I've finally reached the edge of Sangvis territory! _

M4 felt the hope she held onto spark brighter until realizing her situation.

_I just can't make contact with them so carelessly… I'm unable to ensure their safety. The capabilities of the new ringleader are still unknown to me. _She quickly thought.

_I need to make contact with the Griffin HQ… is there anything I can do?_

M4 looked around her and laid her eyes on the bag she had carried with her. An idea formed in her head.

_I can roll the dice here…_

* * *

Back in station 794, the two commanders were in the canteen for an early breakfast…

"You gonna finish that?" Eden pointed to the desert with his fork on Gentiane's tray.

"You can have it… I'm stuffed," she yawned and gave him the chocolate pudding package which he happily accepted. Sitting in the dimly lit corner of the canteen, the two commanders had finished multiple missions yesterday with just the two of them. A recent fight against the Reconnaissance doll, Scarecrow, had exhausted them.

The Sangvis doll had planted explosives onto herself and detonated them before sending M4A1's coordinates to her partner. Thankfully, no one was injured in the self-destruction. However, they had let a valuable target getaway. She was of high-value, filled to the brim with Sangvis information which could have aided Griffin greatly.

"We should probably head back soon, I don't want Helian to lecture us on how we should be on time," sighed Gentiane, looking at her watch. She put all the trash onto her tray. "Say… has the second half of your second echelon come yet? It's been a while since the first one came."

Eden frowned as he ate the pudding, finishing it in a matter of seconds. "No… not yet at least. I've been told by Kalina that she had sent them last night."

"That's strange… it only takes about half a day between our bases. Something must've happ-"

She was interrupted with Eden abruptly standing up with his tray. Looking up, she could tell he was discouraged.

"Look… I don't want to think about it. As long as they come in one piece I'll be happy."

It had been on his mind ever since last night. More than twelve hours had passed since he got the message from Kalina telling him of their departure.

A doll in a maid dress would soon walk up to the two commanders, bowing to them.

"Master, good morning."

It was G36, Gentiane's adjutant and personal caretaker. Normally she would've made the meals but since she and Eden had stayed up last night, they decided it was best to just hit up the canteen.

"Ah- good morning G36. What reason are you here for?" replied Gentiane, happily waving to her.

"I have finished the combat reports you requested," G36 handed the female commander a blue binder full with combat reports.

"W-wow… I didn't think you would finish this so early…" Gentiane muttered, impressed with her adjutant's proficiency as she rummaged through the documents.

"I feel bad for your doll, forcing her to do all the paperwork," Eden teasingly said as he walked over to the trash can.

"Like you don't do the same with Kalina," she retorted, watching him freeze up.

"_Guh_… you got me…" He half-expected her to strike back with that.

"Master, there seems to be a helicopter arriving over from station 786-"

The clatter of a metal tray cut G36 off. Eden was frozen until he realized what happened and hurriedly picked up the trash, dumping it into the trash can. G36 and Gentiane watched this unfold.

Returning to them after giving back the tray, he needed some questions answered.

"When are they coming?" Eden asked, retaining the energy of mixed feelings inside him. He was unsure if he should feel happy or worried.

"I received the message about five minutes ago from the control center. It seems they'll be arriving at any minute now," G36 responded while Gentiane got up from her seat to put away the tray.

"Good… It seems they were just late…" a relieved Eden sighed, finally able to see the rest of his dolls.

"But I've been told they were spotted in a cloud of smoke. It seems the vehicle was damaged in some wa-" G36 suddenly had Eden up in her face.

"What!? T-the vehicle was smoking?" What happened!?" His worries soon turning to reality. This was what he was dreading.

"Ay ay, back off Eden. She doesn't know anything else from what she just told you, right?" Gentiane came in, separating the two by giving a slight push to Eden's chest. G36 nodded, confirming her words.

"_Tch! _Can you take me to the helipads?" Eden requested.

"Alright, follow me," Gentiane signaled him to follow her out of the canteen with G36 trailing behind her. The sun wasn't out yet so it was still fairly dark. Heading out of the base to the runways, the cold of the morning chilled their warm faces after being inside for so long.

Grabbing a radio by her belt, she raised it to her mouth.

"I need medical staff on runway 2, this is urgent. Prepare for a code 10.2!" She radioed out to the faculty.

By the time they had reached the long runway, medical and emergency staff was there, ready for an incoming damaged aircraft.

"Look! Get ready team!" A member of the emergency staff pointed up in the sky, indicating every one of where the aircraft was.

Through the dusk, a helicopter struggled in the air as half of it was on fire. The doors were open as smoke blew out. It was as if it were a flaming comet coming straight towards them.

The pilot noticed the light signals that were on the runway, moving the aircraft directly over.

"Hold on to something! We're in for a crash landing!" the pilot shouted into the comms as he braced for impact. The dolls listened and grabbed whatever they could in the plane and readied themselves.

"Here they come…," whispered Gentiane as she watched the helicopter slowly touch down the long runway, the damaged landing gear creaking under the weight. It soon collapsed under the pressure causing the vehicle to topple on its side as it slid across, sparks flying everywhere.

Eden was holding his breath as he prayed that his dolls were fine.

It would slide halfway through the runway before coming to a stop. Multiple cars drove up and water cannons attached to the top of cars started to douse the flaming helicopter.

"Hurry up! Get on!" Gentiane called out to the dazed Eden, jumping onto the back of a car. He nodded and grabbed her hand which she pulled him up into. They arrived at the scene and Eden dashed out to the crash.

The emergency staff had already dealt with the flames and were in the process of getting the passengers out. Eden climbed up the toppled aircraft and helped pull out Springfield.

She coughed loudly upon climbing out, finally able to breathe. The pilot, SV, and WA had been pulled out earlier so she was the last one to be rescued.

Stepping away from the crash, SV was carried away in a stretcher over to the repair center. The crash sent shrapnel into her left leg which it bled profusely. WA, on the other hand, had gone out unscathed with only a few minor scratches.

"Are you ok Springfield? Does anything hurt?" Eden worryingly asked, looking her up and down. Her military uniform was torn in multiple places with burnt marks. Smoke had blackened her face and hair as well as tarnishing her white skirt.

"N-no but Blad-" Springfield was interrupted with a push on the back from Eden.

"I'll take you and WA to the repair center, though I'm glad you guys aren't too damaged." Eden insisted, only concerned for the health of his dolls.

"But commander, Blad-" She tried to speak out once more but was once again cut off by Eden pushing her towards the car.

"Hey, no complaining! We're taking you over ther-"

"Commander!" Springfield cried out in frustration, turning around. Eden was startled by her sudden change, the calm figure he knew stood discouraged in front of him. She could feel tears well up in her eyes, giving her commander a disheartened look.

"B...Blade… he came with us…" she sputtered out, sobbing in between her words. Springfield hadn't felt this grief grip her heart since her time in the myriad of wars she was involved in.

"Blade? What?!" Eden was shocked by this information and scanned the area around him to see if he could see the unusual male doll. "What happened? How did he even come along?"

He couldn't find the doll anywhere.

"It's… I-It's my fault…" Springfield muttered, her head hung low in shame. "I- I shouldn't have let him come, it's… it's like... they were targeting...him…" She raised her head, coming to realize what had happened. She grabbed onto Eden's jacket, making sure he was focusing on her.

"Commander! Blade, he's… he's…" Springfield suddenly felt faint, her Digimind slow in response. She fell against her commander which he caught her.

"Springfield?!" Eden gasped, noticing a piece of metal embedded into her waist, sticking out awkwardly. It had pierced through the uniform, skin and metal plating underneath.

"Medic! I need help here!" he cried out to the nearby emergency staff.

Springfield felt herself being lifted onto a stretcher into a truck. Her surroundings turned into a blur of colors. She closed her eyes as she could hear the rattling of the car and the people surrounding her.

_Blade… what happened to you?_

_... _

As this was all going on, Gentiane and G36 were watching from the sidelines. Something felt off…

_Just who is this Blade? _She thought to herself.

* * *

...

"Heurgh?!"

Blade woke up in a startle, shivering uncontrollably. He was lying in a pile of snow, a small mass forming on his head to which he shook off. Looking around, he was in a dark forest, the sun just barely over the horizon, casting an orange glow over the lands.

Trying to get up, he stumbled over face down into the snow. He recalled the moment of the fall, crashing into multiple branches before landing in a pile of snow, going unconscious.

Pulling out his gunblade, he used it as a crutch to support his aching body back up. His forearm was flaring up in pain with every movement after being shot out of the air.

_Shit… how long was I out for?_

He noticed that his bag was lying in the snow in front of him. Reaching out to grab it, he scoured through its contents and was disappointed with how little he had brought. A couple of MRE's, his single pair of spare clothes (which were his pajamas), a handheld radio, and his id card. Currently, he was still wearing the same pair of black and white clothes.

Zipping the duffel bag back up, he hung it over his shoulder and started to consider what his next action would be.

_Those snipers firing at us... They still have to be in the area..._

Blade could hear voices in the distance, swiftly choosing to hide behind a large tree. As the voices got closer, he could now see who they belonged to.

A triplet of humanoid dolls carrying some sort of assault weapon was scouting the area. They were searching thoroughly by the way they were scouring each suspicious pile of snow.

One prodded a pile with its rifle, hearing movement underneath it. Without hesitation, it fired relentlessly into it, only to be disappointed to see a dead mountain hare.

"Hey, don't waste your ammo like that!" one of the vespid's shouted to the other. "Save it for when we actually find him!"

Blade quickly pulled his head back into his hiding spot, now aware that they were after him.

_What the hell do I do?!_

He hadn't trained or practiced any sort of combat at all since his time at the base. Raising the gunblade, he inspected the barrel, pulling it open to find 6 slightly large bullets inside. His ammo was very limited which worried him.

_Dammit! I'll have to use my ammo sparingly…_

It also seemed like his weapon wouldn't be able to fire a bullet at a long distance, making it ineffective for ranged combat, acting more like a very weak shotgun without all the recoil and power behind it. Overall, it was useless as a gun.

"Over here! I found footsteps!" a vespid pointed out to its squad.

_Dammit! I forgot to cover my tracks left in the snow! _Blade wanted to hit himself for the crucial mistake that could end up killing him.

The vespid raised her gun as she followed the tracks which lead behind a tree.

"..."

They quietly approached, the crunching of her footsteps getting louder. Blade pressed himself against the tree, gunblade in one hand and the other his duffel bag. He gritted his teeth in nervousness, apprehensive of the situation. As he could hear the vespid get closer, he swore he could feel his core pulsing within him, resembling a heart.

A second passed…

Five…

Then ten…

The vespid was nearly at the tree, calmly advancing with an assault rifle pointed directly in front of her. Her partners were only a couple of feet behind her doing the same.

Suddenly, a bag flew out from the side which the vespid instinctively fired at, her gun drawn away from the real target, Blade, who was already beneath her.

"HAAA-!" roared Blade, driving the gunblade through the vespid's stomach. The black and silver blade tore through her insides, blood and gears erupting from the other side.

"Mpfft!?" The vespid spat blood out, feeling her core break, split apart by the blade. She instantly died, power-sapping out of her as she fell limp onto the blade.

The two other vespids were stunned by the sudden loss of their ally. Coming back to their senses, they raised their guns and fired at their attacker.

Adrenaline still in him, he tore out the blade and used the body as cover. Here and there, a few bullets managed to get through, grazing him at most as he pushed forward.

"This is squadron 3! We've located the do-" the vespid tuned into the comms, but before she could finish her sentence, Blade threw the body at her. She fell to the ground with her dead ally atop her.

Blade took this moment to deal with the other vespid, dashing at her. She frantically fired at him as she desperately backpedaled, only to fall into a snow pile.

A bullet had ripped into his shoulder and thigh, unable to deflect all of the bullets. Despite this, he shrugged it off and continued over to the fallen vespid. She raised her gun at him but only had it sliced apart at the barrel.

"And take… THIS!" Blade drove the gunblade down into the center of the vespid, her mouth gaping wide, gasping for air. He made sure to kill, pulling his blade back out to find the core pierced through, flinging it off after.

The snow beneath the doll turned to a scarlet red, absorbing the blood leaking out from the vespid.

"You!" The last member of the squad yelled, throwing the dead body off of her. She raised her gun at him and fired wildly, going mad.

"Shit!" Blade cried out, feeling more bullets graze him as he tried his best to avoid the rain of bullets. Leaping to the side, one slipped through and pierced into his hip. "_Tch?!"_ Hissing in pain, he stumbled to the ground.

Luckily for him, the vespid used up her current magazine, a distinct _clink _ringing through the air as she tried to fire. Quickly, she went to reload her gun, her victory clear as day.

_He's too far to reach me! I'll end your life you goddamn fake Griffi- … _

_*KERT-CHUNK!*_

… _huh?_

She felt something lodge into her side. Looking down, it was the gunblade sticking out of her abdomen. Her wound bled onto the black silver blade, the insides of her mechanical body revealed.

_H-How?!_

She struggled to stay up, spitting out blood onto the white snow, staining the flaky white with her crimson blood. Looking back up at the male doll, in his hands was a rifle he picked up from her deceased partner. It seemed that victory was within her grasp… only to have it taken away by this _fake_ Griffin doll.

Blade stared at the injured vespid, watching her struggle to raise her gun but was too weak to even hold it up. He had thrown his gunblade, a last-ditch attempt to stop her from reloading and it had struck his target.

"Y-you?!" the vespid muttered, spitting out more blood. "Y-you realize… y-you're n-not... who you… r-really are…?" She smiled maniacally, something gone wrong in her Digimind.

He put his finger over the trigger, ready to silence the doll.

"There's nothing wrong with me, I think it's you who's gone wrong," Blade stated, hoping to draw out some more information out of her.

"Heh… heh… I-I w-wouldn't… think s-so… _**INFIL**_-"

It ended a lot sooner than he expected. A bullet to the head prevented her from speaking any further. She collapsed to the floor in a bloody mess.

Blade didn't know what came over him, a bubbling stinging feeling manifesting in the back of his mind. He fired to shut her up, those last incomplete words haunting him. Dropping the gun, he felt his mind twist and churn as if some unknown thing was trying to eat him up.

_EURGH?! What the hell did she do?_

The pain subsided over time as he tried to forget what she had said, but it was useless.

_Infil-? Why does that sound so familiar…_

Getting back up and walking over to the doll, he forced the gunblade out from the lifeless vespid and smeared the blood off from the blade. His face reflected off the silvery black bloodstained blade.

_Who am I really…?_

As he was fighting, it felt natural to him, strangely exciting even. Blade shook off the feeling as being caught up in the moment.

Attaching the blade to his back, he would tackle this problem another day. The vespid's call had most likely been tracked and located, his unknown enemies knowing his general location.

Grabbing his duffel bag, it was littered with holes after being used to distract his attackers, a worthwhile trade. Slinging it over his shoulder, he decided to go in one direction and stick to it. Since he didn't have any sort of map, he would have to rely on his radio to find some sort of signal.

Walking over to one of the bodies, he prodded the lifeless doll with his foot. Turning it over, he saw a familiar mark engraved onto its body. It was a geometric flame-like design embroidered on the vespid's shoulder, the same one in the hidden compartment in his arm.

"No way, that's not possible…" Blade muttered to himself, not wanting to believe what he is saw.

Hastily, he opened up his arm and compared the symbols. It was like he figured, identical.

Time had stood still for him, staring at the symbol as it bore into his mind. The rustling of nearby birds brought him back, sounds of people approaching in the distance.

Taking one last look at the doll, he turned and ran as fast as he could away from the scene, his Digimind clouded with perplexing questions.

* * *

...

well, finished my portfolios so I'm able to write and draw whatever/whenever I want now, hoorah! Expect "faster" updates now (if I'm not playing or drawing lmao) no promises though. Still have school to power through. As per usual, if you spot anything wrong, let me know so I'll be able to change it as well as anything to improve on. GFL lore really goes in deep. This is my second time handling "action" scenes so I've been trying to add in details to help imagine the fight, getting my point across. Hopefully, you enjoyed the chapter and have a splendid day!


	6. Anticipate

Eden walked into the repair center, a troubled look upon his face.

Gentiane and Eden had just recently dealt with the mess that was outside, a helicopter crash. He wasn't able to stay with his dolls as he needed to document and record everything that had happened.

Thankfully, Gentiane had told him not to worry as she would handle the last of the paperwork and reporting, sending him off to see his dolls. She knew how worried he was.

_I owe you one Gentiane._

He talked with one of the engineers who pointed him to the room his dolls were resting.

…

Springfield could hear the whirring of her system coming back, the Digimind reloading. She slowly opened her eyes, wincing at the sudden brightness.

"W… where am I?" She muttered, raising a hand to cover her eyes. Her vision was too blurry to make out anything, eyes still adjusting to the lighting. A figure sat nearby the sheetless bed she was on.

"You're in the repair center," A recognizable voice stated out to her.

It was Eden, her commander. Remembering what she had wanted to say, she quickly got up, only to be pushed back down. She realized her blue uniform was taken off, only being left with her white shirt and red tie.

"Woah Woah! Calm down Springfield," Eden said. "You were just fixed moments ago. I'd advise you to not move until your system has fully calibrated. You don't want to break anything."

"A-alright… but what of the others?" She stammered out.

"Heh, look around you," her commander chuckled. She did so and similarly spotted WA and SV, laid against the reclining beds waving back.

"I came here to check up on you guys... to see how you were doing," Eden happily grinned. "It seems you guys are good as new. I had just met the pilot on my way here, he wanted to know if you guys were fine too." He crosses his arms.

"From the looks of it… I'd say we are doing just fine," Springfield smiled, glad that her commander and friends were worried about her wellbeing.

Eden laughed, running a hand through his short hair. "I'll make sure to tell everyone that. Though, that wasn't the only reason I came here…" She could tell that he was getting serious from the sudden change of tone in his voice and body language, leaning forward with his hands together.

"It's about Blade."

_Ah… _

She had almost forgotten to tell her commander, passing out at the runway before she could explain.

"Did the others…," she whispered.

"I'm afraid so. They told me of what generally happened…" Eden quietly said, cutting her off. He stared at Springfield as she held her head low, avoiding his gaze.

"..."

Silence hung the room as Eden awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

"Springfield, listen it's not your fau-"

"Please commander… I would much appreciate it if we didn't harp on this topic any further…" she said, still avoiding any eye contact as she balled up her fists.

"Springfield…," he sighed, finally giving in. His earpiece rang, alerting him of an incoming call. Picking it up, he stood up and walked away to talk in private.

"Hello? Yeah, you got it done? ... Alright, I'm coming over right now," he ended the call, heading towards the exit.

"I just want to let you guys know… we'll be sending search teams to find and recover whatever we find…," Eden said as the door slid open. "I'll be reporting this to the higher-ups. You can find me up in the command center if you need anything."

The dolls all understandingly nodded.

"Oh… and uh… you might want to fix your shirt Springfield…," he awkwardly pointed out, Springfield realizing her undergarments were showing through her disheveled clothes the whole time. She quickly buttoned up her shirt and glared at Eden for not telling her sooner.

Eden grinned back as he silently left the room, leaving them to themselves.

"I wish the commander would worry about me as much as he did with you…," pouted WA with her arms crossed.

"Hehehe, don't worry, I'm sure he felt the same way for you WA," Springfield weakly chuckled, looking back up at her comrades and friends.

"I just hope none of my badges were ruined in that flaming mess," SV joined in, hands up to her face as she worried about her collection of badges.

"Speaking of badges, I need to change out of these dirty clothes… Maybe commander didn't approach me because of how nasty I smell!?" WA gasped, sniffing at her burnt sleeve.

A knock interrupted their conversation, a female commander standing by the doorway.

"I'm sure Eden would've jumped at any one of you girls regardless of what you smell like, hehe," laughed Gentiane, poking fun at the male commander. She approached Springfield and took the seat Eden had previously sat.

"Commander Gentiane? What are you doing here? I thought you were helping Eden with the reports?" asked Springfield.

"Well, let's say he'll be doing that without me for now," Gentiane replied, a big devious grin on her face.

...

Back in the command center where a video conference was happening...

_Goddamnit Gentiane!? Why the hell am I alone here reporting all this shit to Helian? _Eden cursed in his thoughts, returning to his report.

...

"I'm glad nothing serious happened to you guys," Gentiane leaned back in her chair.

"Yes, I am glad we were able to make it out in one piece," Springfield replied.

"Not me! My leg was shredded into pieces!" SV commented, Gentiane chuckling at the joke.

"Well, most of us…," sighed the rifle t-doll.

"Overall, I just hope you guys recover fast," said the female commander as she crossed her arms. "Though… I trust that there is supposed to be one more member here..."

Springfield instantly knew why she was here and she disliked what was coming.

"I believe the doll's name was Blade."

* * *

_Hah hah- shit?!_

The male t-doll stumbled, tripping over a large root hidden underneath the thick layer of snow.

Picking himself back up, he pushed forward. There wasn't a second to waste as he couldn't afford to get caught.

Blade traversed down a steep hillside, sliding through the snow. He jumped off and safely landed onto the ground. His legs were numb with cold, pale in color. It didn't help as he was violently shivering the whole time.

He had no idea where he was heading, changing up his directions in hopes of throwing off his pursuers. Figuring he had distanced himself far enough, he stopped to rest.

Breathing heavily, he leaned his back against a tree and collapsed to the ground.

"Ha… ha… fuck me, why are they so persistent?" Blade coughed as he rubbed his body in a futile attempt to warm himself.

The sun was rising, lighting up the wintery forest. In the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a glaring barrel poking out of a bush atop a snowy hill.

_Shit! Did they catch up already?_

Blade rolled away in time to avoid an incoming bullet. Sounds of gunfire rang throughout the air. It struck the spot where his head was just moments ago.

_Snipers! They're the ones responsible for this mess…_

Quickly heading behind cover, he unlatched his gunblade off his back and risked taking a peek out. He hastily scanned the area.

The culprit was no longer on the hill, guessing that the sniper decided to switch locations.

He took this moment to put close the distance, taking the action to approach rather than run away. It was useless anyhow as he was up against trained snipers who probably were familiar with picking off retreating targets.

Blade kept his entire body low while dashing from one tree to another. He slowly made his way over to the hill until part of the tree he was hiding behind was shot, splinters of wood flying everywhere. The bullet left a noticeable dent in the trunk.

_The left?!_

He swerved to the direction of the gunfire to find the Jaeger peering out in the distance. The doll realized her mistake and ran off.

_Not so fast! _

Blade rushed towards the sniper, swerving through the trees and trampling over small piles of snow. The frosty air whipped across his face, squinting as flakes of snow got in the way of his vision. He leapt over a dead log and continued the pursuit.

The Jaeger looked over her shoulder only to be shocked how quickly he had caught up. Unable to outrun him, she turned and raised her rifle at him, choosing to engage in close combat.

Blade saw this coming and threw his bag at her, throwing her off balance. The duffel bag collided into her, sending the gun out of her grasp.

He took the chance to use the dull side of the blade to sweep her off her feet, crashing to the snowy ground. Now above her, he stomped down onto her stomach to pin her down, resulting in her gasping for air. Promptly bringing the gunblade to her neck, he made sure to swiftly end the doll's life if she were to resist.

"Now, ha… ha…, I think it's about time I get some answers," panted Blade, standing victorious above the Jaeger. "First of all, who the hell are you!?"

"...," the doll clenched her teeth in irritation as she refused to speak.

"I didn't want to do this but you leave me no choice," Blade grumbled in annoyance, desperate for any sort of answer. He thrust his blade downwards into her side, avoiding any vital mechanical organs.

"R-AGHHHH!?" screamed the Jaeger, sending the doll into a frenzy as it tried to free itself from his hold. Blood splayed out onto the snow, the blade cutting through the skin and metal down into its mechanized innards.

"Tell me what the hell you guys want with me!" He shouted, not wanting to go any further but will do so if she kept refusing.

"T-To h-hell with y-you…" whispered the Jaeger as she coughed out blood. To his confusion, she gave him a weak smile. "Y-you really t-thought I w-would come out h-here alone?"

Blade suddenly realized the situation he was in, walking right into the mousetrap while she was the bait. Gunfire from multiple angles rained down at his position.

"Shit?!" he cried out, leaping out of the way as a few bullets managed to land their shots onto him. Unfortunately, the rest had struck the doll he was with, killing her immediately.

Stumbling across the snow, he could feel the bullet wounds burn into his body. "Hah!?" Blade painfully gasped while picking himself back up. He gripped the blade with one hand as he stumbled over to his bag, picking it up off the ground.

_Cover… I need to find somewhere to hi-_

Another hail of bullets came towards his way, forcing him to deflect a few to get behind a tree.

"Fuck me!" hissed Blade, finding himself trapped. Every decision could lead to his death, forcing him to act carefully. He needed to retreat to avoid being put into an even more disadvantageous position.

Quickly thinking about what to do, he figured he would need to pull the same trick again.

…

Jaeger 304 had finally caught up to her target, pinning him down. Though, it did cost the life of a fellow Jaeger. It wouldn't matter as another replica would take her spot, simply acting as a sacrificial pawn.

She was hidden away from sight with the use of her electronic camouflage cloak, blending herself with the white snow. Two other vespids accompanied her, separated from her to cover ground. Jaeger signaled for them to keep pressuring the target, to push forward this time.

Just as she was about to follow up with them, a bag had flown out of the tree from where the target was hiding. The two vespids had taken up the trick and fired at it, giving the target a brief moment to escape.

"You idiots-! Eurgh... Not so fast!" Jaeger 304 shouted out, quickly raising her rifle, scoping in on the running Blade. Unlike the vespids, she hadn't fallen for the simple trick.

Blade heard the gunshots behind him as he ran, figuring his bag was now done for.

_Looks like the same trick worked twice! _

But before he could celebrate, a speeding bullet tore into his left leg.

"Gah!?" Blade cried, crashing down to the snow. Unbearable pain erupted throughout his leg, unable to form any words as he gasped.

Jaeger was upset as she saw the target still moving which meant she had missed the killing shot. The two vespids were already on their way to deal with the fallen doll.

She raised her rifle to finish the target off only to see a cloud of snow through her scope.

"What?" Jaeger exclaimed in surprise.

Blade drove his gunblade into the ground and fired a bullet, exploding the snow beneath it. As a result, a large cloud of snow was made, giving him some sort of cover as he crawled away. The bullet had enormous explosive power which surprised even himself.

Soon, he had picked himself back up and limped away as far away as the distraction could last.

Jaeger eventually made her way over to the snow cloud, now dissipating from the winds. The two other vespids trailed behind her.

"I've managed to land deter his movement meaning he couldn't have gone far out…," the Sanvgis doll murmured. "Scan the area thoroughly and make sure not to fall for those stupid tricks of his!"

The two vespids nodded and quickly split off in search of him. Jaeger stood where she was and collectively thought to herself.

As the last of the clouds faded away, she noticed a faint trail of blood and footprints. Reloading her rifle, she knew it wouldn't be long for her to catch up.

"It's about time I end this stupid chase."

Blade had found a small cave not too far, choosing to hole up in it. It had a large dark tunnel that led deeper into the hillside, making it harder to see without any lights. He limped away deeper into its tunnels.

Finding a spot to rest, he crashed to the floor, his stuff falling out of his clothes. Blade had stuffed himself with the bag's few contents before throwing it as a distraction.

Grabbing the radio, he tuned into the G&K channels in hopes of contacting anyone but no one would reply.

"Goddamnit!" Blade cried, squeezing the radio in his hand, wanting to throw the device against the rocky wall.

"Goddamnit!" the radio cried back, Blade surprised to hear his voice. He stopped squeezing the device, finding a recorder button on the side. An idea suddenly formulated in his head.

He needed to get the preparations done fast before they arrived.

…

Jaeger 304 had followed the trail to end up at a cave gaping out from the hillside. The blood had led her to this tunnel, her target hiding inside its dark caverns. It was clearly obvious he was trying to catch her by surprise, using the cover of darkness to ambush her.

"What naive fool. What does he take me for?" she said, waiting outside of the cave. He was trapped and there was no need to go in. All she needed to do was call for reinforcements.

As she was about to contact her squadron, she heard a voice echoing out of the cave. Raising her rifle, she took a couple of steps to listen.

"Help! I need immediate backup! Huh…? You're close by! Hurry, I don't know when my pursuers are going to get here!"

Jaeger could hear the target calling for help from what seemed to be a handheld radio. From what she heard, it seems backup was only a couple of minutes away. She needed to silence him.

Going deeper into the cave, it was getting harder to see but she could make out a dark figure facing away from her with the bright radio light in his hands.

"I've caught you now…" the Jaeger whispered to herself, aiming her rifle at his head. She pulled the trigger, the shot loudly echoing across the cave.

The head fell off and landed to the floor with a splat, but to her surprise, the target's voice kept going.

"Help! I need immediate backup! Huh…? You're close by! Hurry, I don't know when my pursuers are going to get here!" repeated the voice. She ran over to the body, only to find it to be a pile of snow. The radio was poking out of the pile, repeating the same voice line over and over.

"Shit!" the Jaeger cried out, suddenly finding herself in trouble. She turned around to run back to the entrance, only to find Blade behind her poised to strike.

"Looks like _I've_ caught you now!" he mockingly said as he struck down with his gunblade.

Jaeger managed to block the strike by raising her rifle to protect herself. It slammed into the center of the gun, both of them struggling to overpower one another. Blade quickly raised his blade to strike again, this time pressing the trigger. With explosive speed, the gunblade tore through the rifle and arm, into her left shoulder.

"AHHH!" screamed the doll as the pain was unbearable. The gunblade went through her arm like butter, the blade red hot moments ago now cooled down.

In a desperate attempt to fight back, she blindly grabbed at her holster hidden beside her waist. Feeling the sturdy handle of her pistol, she whipped it out and randomly fired straight at his chest.

Blade narrowingly dodged the first bullet, whizzing past his face., but the second and third shot went straight into his shoulder.

"Hngh?!" he grunted, holding back his cry. He kicked the pistol out of her hand and raised his blade for the finishing blow, but before he did, he heard a voice coming out of the doll's ear

"Jaeger? What's your current status?" someone called out from the earpiece.

Blade slammed his foot down onto the doll's arm, preventing her from stopping him to reach out to retrieve the device from her ear. She cried out in pain, struggling underneath him as the person on the other side could hear.

"What's going on there! Respond!"

Blade brought the earpiece to his mouth and raised his blade.

"Whoever the hell you guys are, stay the hell away from me."

He pressed the trigger and struck the Jaeger right through her chest, the gunblade melting through her as she silently screamed, unable to form any sound. She clawed at the blade before going limp.

"Huh?! Who the hell are yo-"

Blade crushed the device with his foot, grinding it against the ground, cutting off the speaker. He sighed as he winced in pain from his various wounds.

Retrieving his stuff, he latched his bloody gunblade to his back. Taking one last look at the dead figure lying on the ground, the dark making it difficult to make out any details, he limped out of the cave.

Raising a hand to block the light, his eyes were adjusting to the stark difference of brightness.

"Mhnnn… hah…," Blade took in a deep breath of the fresh air of the forest and let out a tired breath. His worries were far from over as there were more of those strange dolls still after him.

Making sure he had everything, he limped away as he held his injured shoulder and leg. Blade painstakingly trudged through the snowy forest, the only thing occupying his mind… to survive.

* * *

A Sangvis doll ringleader stood still as she heard the connection belonging to Jaeger 304 cut off.

"Scarecrow and now this… goddamnit!" the ringleader roared, slamming her giant sword through a nearby tree in frustration. The tall forest tree toppled to the ground, thundering in cracks.

"For a couple of garbage dolls, those griffin maggots sure are getting on my nerve…," growled the doll, her giant right arm clenching at the empty air. "I'll kill whoever was that… but first comes the objective."

Like the other ringleaders, she was assigned a certain task by her Master, relayed through Agent.

With inhuman speed and strength, she leaped through the forest.

"M4! Let's see how long you can keep running!" howled the ringleader as she searched for her target.

* * *

M4A1 felt a sudden chill run through her body, figuring it was getting colder.

She placed the last "minefield" trap, a short piece of wire appearing out of the ground. It was a decoy to lure whoever was coming, down into a declining hill. This way, she would be able to spot and precisely fire whoever it was.

Putting the leftover supplies into her back pouch, she headed back to her shelter, a run-down wooden house.

"..."

M4A1 knew the time to fight was nearing. The Sangvis Ferri would soon find her and attempt to forcefully retrieve the precious data within her, that her team had worked so hard to protect.

She sat atop a wooden crate, peering out a window. Checking her gun one last time, she waited for the right opportunity to present itself.

* * *

alright, I finally finished this chapter! Been busy with life so haven't been able to write as much, but that won't mean I'll stop! As per usual, notify me of any misconceptions and hope you enjoyed the story!


	7. Executioner

Gentiane was leaning against the doorway outside of the repair center, impatiently tapping her foot. She heard the whole story and how Blade came to be. It was definitely strange.

"Hmm…," the commander pondered to herself, bringing a hand up to her chin. Male dolls were common, but not in the frontlines. They were usually operating as normal civilian bots, but to find one in Griffin was strange.

Walking back to the conference room, she had run into an exhausted Eden.

"You…," he hissed, glaring at Gentiane, pissed off for leaving him alone to report every detail.

"Eh hehe, my bad, just needed to do something," she grinned, walking past him as she patted his shoulder. "I mean, I'm sure it went fine, right?"

"Somewhat... actually, hold up for a second " Eden stopped the female commander, grabbing her hand. "There's something important we've found out that I need to tell you."

"Hm?" Gentiane hummed, now listening.

"From one of the recordings we found on the outskirts of Sangvis territory… we've found the location of M4A1."

…

* * *

Blade didn't know how long he had been walking, limping through the entire forest. He was exhausted and starving, only having one MRE left. His system was constantly telling him to refuel but he needed to make most of what he had.

He started to feel light-headed, feeling as if the end was near.

If hunger and lack of power didn't get to him, it would surely be his wounds. His fights had heavily damaged him which left him bleeding all over. Without proper medical care, he would surely succumb to his injuries.

Reaching an open white field of snow, he could make out a wooden cabin in the distance. Nightfall was approaching and it was the best place he could find to rest in.

Instead of going right through the field, he figured he would take precautions and go around. He couldn't afford to get caught by nonchalantly walking through an open field.

Blade was on his way until his head started pulsating in pain.

"Agh?!" He cried out, clutching at his head. Losing focus of the path in front of him, he faltered in his steps and nearly crashed into a tree.

The fatigue from the blood loss was getting to him. He needed to rest.

Approaching the back of the run-down house, Blade staggered up the patio where the backdoor was. Pushing the broken door aside, he entered the seemingly abandoned home.

* * *

M4A1 was staring out the window, watching the sun fall past the horizon. Bored, she inspected her weapon for the hundredth time.

Sitting atop a pile of wooden crates, M4 sighed as she leaned back. Closing her eyes, she took a brief moment to rest.

It was cold and dark in the house she was bunkering in. Any form of light/fire would immediately reveal her position.

Tucking in the small camo sheet around her, M4 let out a chilled breath, visible in the air.

The sounds of crickets started to hum in the air, night time approaching.

But suddenly, she heard the backdoor open, being pushed aside.

M4 was instantly at her feet, gun in her hands. All sense of fatigue and drowsiness gone, instead replaced with a sharp focus.

_The backdoor! Are they trying to sneak up on me?_

Slowly moving out of the room, she made sure not to make any noise. M4 stealthily moved, sticking close to the wall.

Unlike her, the intruder was loud, negligent of their surroundings. They pushed furniture and staggered around, making noise at every move.

Curious, M4 peeked into the room where it all was happening. It was an injured Sangvis doll wearing notable black and white colors the ringleaders wore, but much to her surprise, it was a doll of the male gender. He carried a strange weapon on his back, a large silver blade with a… revolver-like handle?

_There might be more around the area..._

She decided to stalk him for the time being.

...

Blade had made his way into the living room of the house, deteriorating furniture decorating the room. Pushing away some of the debris that littered the floor, he collapsed into one of the chairs.

Taking off his gunblade, he set it beside him as he took out his last MRE.

Unwrapping the packaging, he attempted to bite into the tasteless brick, finding it very hard. It was essentially a giant dry biscuit, efficient… but an unpalatable way for energy consumption. The fact that it was pretty old didn't help either.

As he was nibbling at edges of the brick, M4 had snuck up behind the oblivious Blade, combat knife in hand. She needed to get rid of him silently.

Unfortunately for her, with the terrible condition of the home, she had stepped onto a loose board. It noisily creaked, alerting Blade of his stalker.

Wasting no time, she lunged forward, grabbing onto his shoulder and struck down

_Huh?!_

Blade, finally realizing the danger of the situation, shrugged her off and defensively raised his arms to his face. The knife grazed across his forearms, cutting through his sleeves.

_This place wasn't abandoned after all?!_

Retreating back, he stumbled to the ground due to his injured leg. His cut wound stung, an apparent red line across his arms.

Giving him no time to recover, M4 pushed her attack further. She slammed her foot down at his groin.

Blade pulled back enough for her heels to come crashing down in through the boards between his legs.

_Holy shit. That was too close._

Quickly scampering back up, he went for the gunblade leaning beside his chair.

_Not so fast!_

M4 thrust her foot out, kicking the chair away. The seat and gunblade slid away from his reach.

_Damn it!_

Blade swore under his breath, turning to face his attacker.

M4 kept her distance away, ready to pounce if he were to go for his weapon.

Unarmed and injured, Blade was at a serious disadvantage.

"L-Listen… I didn't know anyone was living here," panted Blade, raising his hands in the air. "I just need help."

His wounds were holding him back. If he were to keep fighting, it would be the end of him.

"There's no point in lying, I know what your real intentions are Sangvis scum," M4 growled back.

She lashed out with her knife, aiming for his throat.

"Hngh?!" Blade hissed as he dodged the slice, his injuries screaming at him to stop.

She continued the assault, Blade narrowingly avoiding every attack. His movement was clumsy and slow, earning a few cuts from M4.

_"?!"_

Blade had reached the end of the room, back against the wall as M4 poised for a finishing blow.

She thrusted her knife at his stomach, Blade unable to avoid the attack.

For what should have gone through him, Blade defended himself using the MRE, which was in his hands the entire scuffle.

The knife punched through the brick-like food.

M4 was shocked to find her knife stuck,

wedged into the MRE.

_What the hell is this stuff made of?! _Blade was just as surprised as she was.

M4 cursed to herself for being unable to land the blow.

Ditching the blade, she opted for a different approach.

She ripped the MRE-stuck blade out of his grasp and tossed it away as she grappled at him.

Blade was too weak to throw her off, feeling her agile handwork swerve past his defense. An iron grip was placed on his shoulders, holding him in place.

M4 threw out a vicious knee, aimed right at his stomach.

He steeled himself for the blow but the force put behind it caught him off guard.

A nauseous wave of pain rippled throughout his body, leaving Blade coughing for air.

She bolted straight behind him to put him in a choke. Her arms crossed against his neck, squeezing down to neutralize him.

"How did you find me?" demanded M4, wanting an answer out of him.

"W-What… do you… mean!?" Blade gasped in between his ragged breaths. He felt like he could pass out at any moment.

"This is your last chance! How did you find me? And how many more of you are there?" she demanded once more. Blade was confused at the reasoning behind the questions, unable to form an answer, let alone speak.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar patch, sewed onto her sleeve.

It was the Griffin symbol, patched onto the green band wrapped around her arm.

"Y-you're… part of Griffin?!" Blade managed to choke out, the grip tightening at the mention. "I-I'm… o-one of you!"

"Come up with a better lie, Sangvis scum," M4 hissed, finally deciding to choke him out.

_SHIT! She's not listening to me! _

Blade started to panic, trying to think of something, anything! An idea quickly came up.

Instead of pulling at her locked arms, he fumbled through his clothes, desperately searching for a certain item. Without any resistance, he was losing consciousness faster.

_C-Come on! Where is it?! Ah- There! _

Finding the item in his pocket, he was about to raise it up until the world went dark in his eyes.

M4 felt the body go limp in her hold, successfully choking him out. She released him, watching the body crumple to the floor.

Picking up her combat knife, she struggled in freeing it, eventually tugging it out.

It was time she put the doll's life to an end.

It seemed he was the only doll to confront her. If there were any Sangvis backup outside, they would've overwhelmed her by now.

She reached at her back for the assault rifle slung behind her.

Aiming at his head, she placed her finger at the trigger until a voice broke her focus.

"Help! I need immediate backup! Huh…? You're close by! Hurry, I don't know when my pursuers are going to get here!"

Lowering her gun, she saw a device being played in the hands of the doll.

Kneeling, she unfurled the fingers gripping the radio and lifted it, inspecting it.

It was on playback, repeating a line as she recognized the voice belonging to the unconscious doll. Turning it around, a look of shock donned on her face.

Engraved on the back of the handheld radio was the Griffin logo.

Looking back at the knocked-out male doll, she started to contemplate her previous actions.

"Just who are you?" whispered M4 as the night fell.

* * *

_..._

_Whrrrr tzzz tzzzz_

Blade felt his system start back up, consciousness returning. A sudden pain ached throughout his Digimind.

His vision was blurry, the surroundings dark.

_What happened…?_

Attempting to move, he found that he was stuck, tied to a wooden chair. Blade tugged at the ropes binding him but was too weak to even budge.

"Fuck!? That hurts," he hissed, feeling his wounds reopen after struggling around.

"Oh you're awake," a voice called out to him in the darkness.

A bright light shined at his face, Blade squinting back as the figure walked up to him.

His vision was slowly returning, finally able to make out his surroundings. He was still in the living room of the old house in the middle of the night.

The figure facing him was the green girl he had fought with, who held a flashlight towards him.

"You!" Blade exclaimed as he tugged at the ropes.

"Stop struggling or else you're gonna hurt yourself," the doll said, walking in circles around him.

"As if you haven't done enough to me already," growled Blade. He could feel his sore stomach from her kneeing him.

"This right here," the doll held something up, ignoring his comment. "Tell me, how did you get your hands on this."

She held his radio up, dangling it in front of him.

"Why should I tell you?" He hissed back, unwilling to answer her question.

"Answer. Or else."

She held a pistol up to the side of his head, finger hovering over the trigger.

"I-It's mine," Blade gave in, not wanting to die over some standard handheld radio they gave out to everyone.

"I would suggest for you not to lie," the doll stated, pushing the barrel against his head.

"I'm. Not. Lying," Blade needed to get his point across. "I'm an ally. You can trust me."

"It's quite obvious you're from Sangvis," she sighed. "If you really were an ally, you would have recognized me and the operation. I'm not backing down after my friends are still in danger."

Blade flinched as the gun fired. She had shot into the air as a warning shot.

"The next one won't miss. Now speak up," demanded the doll one last time, placing her pistol back against his head.

_Goddamnit… she's still convinced it's not mine! What else is there… _

_!_

Blade remembered something.

"I have something in one of my pockets. It's my ID card," he said. "As you can see, I have no available hands, so…"

"I'm not freeing you," she bluntly stated.

"Then how the hell am I going to prove I'm innocent?" Blade questioned back, growing frustrated with the doll.

"You aren't."

She was getting on his nerves.

"This is bullshit! What do you have against me to prove I'm part of this Sangist Berri- whatever the hell they're called!" He yelled back.

Keeping her composure, she made sure of herself not to kill him out of annoyance.

"Fine," she gave in. "Which pocket is it in?"

"It's in my back pocket, left side," he responded.

Listening to his direction, she still kept her pistol buried into his back as she reached into the pocket.

Much to her surprise, he wasn't lying. She had pulled out a member ID card of G&K, standard for everyone working there.

"Blade… that's your name?" she murmured, flipping the card around.

"Well did you get it or not?" Blade cried out, unable to see her since she was right behind him.

"Hmph," she sighed as she pocketed his ID into her coat. "It could be a fake for all I know."

_What. What di- are you fucking kidding me._

Blade couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The female doll went around to face him again but this time she put away her pistol.

"At least you will get to live a bit longer," she said as she went over to the window to watch for any more Sangvis troops.

Blade was in disbelief, still tied to the chair.

"Can you at least untie me now?" He begged, feeling his wrists become sore from all the twisting and struggling.

"I still don't trust you yet, so that's still a no" she replied without looking back at him.

Blade groaned in exhaustion and pain. He had a feeling the night would end up feeling longer than he would hope for.

* * *

_**...**_

_**Crash!**_

A black and white ringleader tore through a tree blocking the pathway her troops were going along. It was raining heavily in the forest they were treading through.

"_Tch_…," she hissed. An impatience had been building within her. They were reaching the location scarecrow had given her.

_All this running! When will we ever get there?!_

She could have gone ahead of her troops and reached the area in a matter of minutes but that was far too reckless. Even she herself admitted that.

Suddenly, the dinergate walking alongside her started beeping at her.

"Huh? What is it?" The ringleader asked, looking down at the robotic dog. It beeped and pointed to the ground. The mud had footprints that she had not seen before.

"So she came this way…," the ringleader muttered to herself, becoming cautious of her surroundings.

Following the footprints, she noticed a wire strung across the ground.

"A wire? Did she plant mines here?" The Sangvis doll laughed at the runaway's poor attempt to trap her. "All units halt! Change your direction of approach! Avoid the open area up ahead!"

Her troops listened to her commanding voice and changed directions, heading down the cliff.

"Hmph, who does she take me for?" She laughed once more. "What a crude trap. As if I would fall for anything like tha-"

The sound of gunfire interrupted her, instantly turning to find some of her troops lying dead

"H-How? Isn't she just some outdated assault rifle?!" She gasped in shock. "That "trap" just now… it was meant to lure my troops down the cliffside!"

"TAKE COVER! GET BEHIND COVER NOW!" She ordered at her remaining troops.

_To think she'd play such cheap tricks!_

Her senses started tingling, danger fast approaching. She quickly raised her blade to block a bullet meant for her head.

Scanning the area, a flash of bright lightning thundered across the sky, illuminating the forest.

_So there you are…_

She spotted the location where she was firing. It was an abandoned run-down home.

Giving a silent command to the Jaegers behind her, they fired at the location of the target.

_You've worked the terrain into your tactics… expected from a doll with a command module._

_"_Hehe, I am afraid I can' t play with you any longer…," a terrifying smile formed upon her face.

"Allow me to introduce myself!" She announced into the rainy sky. "I am Sangvis Ferri manufacturing product NO. SP524. Elite scout doll "EXECUTIONER!"

The sides of her heels began to spark black volts of energy.

"LET'S SEE IF YOUR SCHEMES CAN STOP ME!"

* * *

Blade could hear firing in the other room and the doll cursing.

"Hey! What the hell's going on over there!" He yelled out to the opposite room. There wasn't anything he could make out aside from the noise of exchanging gunfire.

"Eurgh! Just shut it!" She cried back, Blade only hearing her voice. "Huh-? What's this mobility!? Shit!"

He saw the doll rush out of the room into his as she threw away an empty magazine. Shoving a fresh magazine back into her AR, she leapt away in time to avoid a sudden explosion.

The blast sent Blade tumbling across the floor, stuck on his side as he was still tied down to a chair. Debris was sent flying everywhere.

"FOUND. YOU," a terrifying voice called out from the dust and smoke.

M4 stared back at the ringleader, readying herself for a fight for her life.

Lying on his side, he could make out a large black and white doll carrying a massive sword. But… that wasn't what terrified him.

Aside from her face and hair.

She reminded him of himself.

* * *

...

I'm backkkk and i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It's been awhile but please forgive me! Drawing has taken a majority of my time once more ~ other than that, I guess Blade found more trouble than he wished for. It's getting tense! As per usual, please point out any mistakes or misconceptions so I can go back and fix them. Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Edit: I fixed alot of mistakes, i apologize


	8. Resolve

Blade felt a chill run down his mechanical spine, his system's Digimind strangely reacting to the sight of the Sangvis ringleader in front of him.

A static memory was screened onto his mind, its footage dug up deep in his system.

He saw a small white-haired sitting in front of him as if she were towering above him. She looked down onto him with glaring red eyes. Her mouth moved to form words but the sounds of static made it impossible to guess what she said. All he could make out were the words…

_**-.-_ INFILTRATOR -._-.**_

"Aghh?!" He screamed in pain as he squirmed around, still bound to the chair. As this was transpiring, M4 and Executioner were at a standoff.

M4 quickly took action and dashed back as she fired at her. The gun rapidly shook in her hands, held in place with her tight grip.

_Takatakatakataka!_

Executioner was ready for this, spinning her blade extremely fast in a circular motion.

The bullets deflected off, tinkering at the impact.

M4 continued to pressure her until the magazine ran empty, tossing it away and reloading.

Out of nowhere, bullets began to rain down on her position.

"Hah?! What?" M4 hissed in pain, feeling the bullets graze past her as she dashed back.

The wall she was up against became littered with bullet holes, letting in streaks of moonlight.

Jaegers had positioned in the distance to fire at her, monopolizing her moment of vulnerability.

"A _certain_ idiot died to catch a rat like you…," Executioner growled at her retreating target. "In order to give me your location!"

She flew across the ground at an extreme speed, sending debris flying up once more around the room. Using her momentum to her advantage, she threw out a powerful swing at M4.

M4 slid across the ground past a wooden pillar as the blade rammed straight through it. She kept on running through the home, the ringleader on her tail.

Reaching a larger room, she felt a bullet pierce into her shoulder, sending her sprawling to the ground.

"Hagh?!" M4 gasped in pain, frantically getting back up to keep running.

In the distance, Executioner held a pistol aimed towards her.

The ringleader blasted towards her, swinging her blade in wide reckless arcs, crushing anything in its path.

"What's the matter!? Fight back with your tricks!" Executioner howled in laughter, in an attempt to mock her. M4 responded with more gunfire back at her.

"Show me how long you can last! You outdated civilian doll!" The ringleader cackled in enjoyment, blocking every shot.

* * *

_**Slam!**_

"We don't have much time! Sangvis forces are already in contact with M4!" Gentiane yelled into the comms in a hurry.

"This operation might end up in failure if we don't make it in time…," She tapped impatiently on her desk.

Eden looked over her shoulder and looked at the map.

"Can you go any faster?" He asked the pilots of the helicopters.

"Sir, I'm afraid we are going as fast as we can," one of the soldiers answered back.

Eden took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled in an attempt to calm down. His partner, however, wasn't the same.

"Just focus on the flight for now," she stated, changing stations over to her dolls. "Listen! When you arrive, I need you to rush to the target to ensure her safety asap!"

Receiving confirmation, she hung up and continued to analyze the information displayed out on the screens.

"A Sangvis ringleader… will M4 be able to handle an opponent like that?" she murmured, thinking of the possibilities that could occur.

"Even for a command module doll, it's still one against many," Eden joined in, reading the information on M4A1 provided by Helian.

"If only we had anyone closer to respond…," she said as she leaned back in her seat while massaging her temple.

"Gentiane… send out another signal."

"Huh? Why? We already tried that half an hour ago!" She responded, confused with his decision. "No one responded if you forgot!"

"I know, I know, but lets at least see if we can establish contact with M4 when the copters get closer," Eden answered back.

"Alright, I'll let them know," Gentiane sighed, tuning back into the comms.

_I hope we didn't lose her already…_

* * *

...

Blade felt his headache slowly disappear, returning to a calm state. He was breathing heavily in exhaustion.

Loud crashes and gunfire were all he could hear now.

_I need to get the hell out of here..._

Blade blindly searched the floor behind him while his hands tied behind his back. Feeling a broken shard of glass, he picked it up and slowly cut the rope. The process was slow and painful, feeling the shard cut into his hand as he dragged it back and forth against the rope.

"Agh!" He held back a painful cry and endured through. Feeling the rope cut apart and loosen, he ripped apart the binds and worked onto his tied legs.

"Yes!" Blade shakingly got up, freed from the ropes.

Digging through a pile of debris, he pulled out his gunblade and attached it to his back. It was time to go.

_That blade-wielding doll is after that green one._

Blade could have gotten up and used this opportunity to escape but he remembered she was a Griffin, an ally. One side was telling him to run and the other to chase after her.

_Look! You went through so much shit to survive! This is the time! _His instincts screamed at him.

_Hold up! She's part of Griffin and in the same situation, you were in! You've got to help her fight back! _The justice side of him responded.

_Don't you remember she hurt you? As well as mock you? Why help her?! _The instincts side made a very good point.

_But remember! She didn't know who you were! And also-_

His thoughts were interrupted by an incoming signal, echoed through his mind from an internal comm. Picking it up, he hid behind a counter to answer the call.

"Hello? Is there anyone there?!"

"M4-! Wait- who is this?" A voice called out from the other side.

_Finally! Contact!_

"This is Blade! I'm a stranded t-doll in need of immediate help!" he yelled for help. Suddenly, a loud crash washed over his voice, turning to see the source.

In the distance, he saw the green doll retreat into a room with metal double doors.

"What the hell is she doing-"

Blade was about to question her actions, only to see Executioner tear through the wall, heading towards the room M4 was in.

She stomped down onto a wooden plank blocking her way, crushing it in half.

"Game over!" The ringleader shouted, raising her blade and pointing it into the room M4 was holed up in. "You obsolete puppet."

_Shit! She's stuck in that room! _

Blade was only a couple of meters away from Executioner, who was poised to strike.

"Blade! Blade? Hand it over Gentiane, Blade? Is that you!?" a voice called out to him on the radio in his hand.

He recognized the voice. It was Eden, his commander.

"Blade! I don't know how the hell we got into contact with you but from this call, I'm guessing you're with M4?!" Eden shouted from the other side, his voice tense with stress.

_M4? Is that the girl's name?_

_"_Yeah, I'm actually at the scene right now!" He responded as he hastily reached for his gunblade.

"Wha- tha- that's perfect!" His commander was surprisingly happy at this bit of information. "Blade, listen to me! I need you to protect M4 with your _life!_ Alright? Don't be disobeying orders on me with this one!"

Drawing his gunblade, he checked the blade's chamber to find 4 more bullets left. The two previously used back in his fight with the jaegers.

"Don't worry commander, I'm already on it."

With a flick of his wrist, the chamber clicked back in place, still gripping the handle of the blade.

Somehow, the command Eden had ordered had overridden his senses, feeling the pain slowly numb away. The only thing on his mind was to protect his objective. After all, he couldn't defy his order, previously reminded to listen to his commander by the strange voice in his head.

"Alright Blade, GO!" Eden voice yelled out of the radio. "We'll be there soon! Just hold out as long as you can!"

Blade tossed the radio aside, beginning to run while hovering his finger over the trigger.

Executioner felt her senses tingling once more, feeling another presence of a doll. She turned to her left to see Blade within a couple of feet away from her.

"So there was another rat," she scoffed, switching targets over at the approaching Blade.

M4 could see him recklessly sprinting at Executioner.

_What is that idiot doing?!_

"You are all nothing but puppets!" The ringleader raised her blade with her giant fist and swung at a giant arc, impossible for him to dodge.

_No! _M4 jumped out of her spot and was about to fire until she was intercepted with enemy gunshots from jaegers. She ducked behind cover once more. _What is he thinking?!_

"I've been wondering whose blade is stronger!" Blade cried, pressing the trigger of his gunblade. "Let's put that to. The. TEST!"

With explosive energy, he swung his gunblade and the two blades clashed into each other. Metal against metal, they collided with a shriek that sent sparks flying into the air.

To her surprise, Executioner was shocked to see her blade be stopped. Anger swiftly overcame her and she threw out another heavy downward slash.

But Blade was quick and sidestepped to the right, feeling the winds of the blade blow past him.

He threw out a horizontal slash at Executioner who narrowingly pulled back, only receiving a thin cut across her cheek.

Pushing his advantage, he triggered his gunblade to throw out another attack but his opponent had already darted back. Executioner retreated far enough to avoid another horizontal slice, a trail of heat in its path. His gunblade was hot to the touch.

Seething with anger, she powered her mechanical arm, sparks starting to volt out of it.

"Damn you griffin dolls!" The ringleader lashed out at him, wildly swinging at him with newfound power.

Blade suddenly became overwhelmed with a flurry of strikes, each violent blow filled with an intent to kill. He blocked until his arms were exhausted and couldn't hold out any longer.

Executioner swung at his exposed sides from blocking. He was forced to use a bullet for the gunblade to reach around to defend himself.

"Hngh?!" he let out a weary grunt, blocking one last strike. The weight of her blade was too much, quickly overpowering his gunblade, even when triggered.

Executioner knew of this and took her time, smirking at her impending victory.

"Where's that confidence now! Haha!" She taunted, pulling back her blade and thrusting it out towards him. Blade barely had time to react to defend himself, slowed down with the weight of weariness.

It tore across his sides, blood and metal splayed across her heavy blade. His gunblade clattered to the floor.

"Agh?!" Blade cried out as the sword ripped his waist apart. She tore the blade out of him.

He stumbled to his knees as the ringleader towered over him. She kicked him to the floor and started to crush down onto his stomach.

"Your blade is sturdy that's for sure," she snarled, pressing down harder causing him to gasp for air.

"However… It seems like I'm the victor." Raising her giant blade, she stared into the angered face of Blade who desperately tried to pull her foot off of him.

Executioner blinked. She looked at the face of Blade once more.

"Wait- you look familia-"

Sudden gunshots cut her off.

M4 had just finished off the two jaegers on her and leaped out to confront the ringleader.

"I'm your target. There's no need to get others into this mess," she stated, aiming her rifle towards the Executioner.

"Haha! You say that but he was the one that started it, didn't you?" She triumphantly looked down at Bladd, grinding her metallic heels deeper into his stomach.

Blade answered with gasps of pain.

"Let him go. He has no part in this," M4 demanded, her rifle still aimed at the Sangvis' head as she slowly circled around. She made sure to keep a safe distance away.

Executioner gave one last kick, stomping down onto his stomach. Blade felt the air get knocked out of him and curled up in reaction, coughing for breath.

The ringleader walked away and started to approach M4 but an explosion in the distance caught her attention.

"What?" Executioner questioned, seeing smoke in the general direction of her troops. She felt a grip on her ankle.

"C-checkmate…," weakly grinned Blade.

_Impossible. He was only stalling for time! _

Her temper broke and she became infuriated, kicking him away. But before she had the chance to lash out at him, M4 had fired at her ankles. Bullets shredded through the metal, causing the ringleader to fall onto her back.

"Eurgh!?" the Sangvis doll grunted, falling to the dusty floor.

M4 took this opportunity to jump atop her and aimed down at the arm of her giant hand. She fired and shredded apart arm, Executioner unable to defend herself with her blade.

"NOT LIKE THIS!" The ringleader screamed as she raised her other arm, pistol in hand. She desperately fired at M4.

M4 blocked the shots with her forearm and fired back.

It became a battle of endurance as the two blasted each other with their respective guns.

"HAAAA!"

Both screaming as they try to overtake one another. M4's forearm was chipping away, metal and skin being torn apart while the same was happening to Executioner's shoulder.

Within seconds, a victor emerged. M4 felt her blocking arm go slack. She looked down at the poor figure below her.

"Game over, Sangvis scum."

Executioner could only stare back, an irritated look on her face. She was now practically limbless, each shredded apart from M4's relenting gunfire.

"_Tch! _How did you Griffin's dolls manage to ambush my command post…" she muttered.

"Griffin's commander has already taken control of the situation," M4 let out a tired chilled breath. "He re-allocated his forces and launched an operation."

"_Commanders~_," Blade jumped into the conversation, emphasizing the S. He slowly raised himself off the ground and limped over to M4. "T-There are two commanders in the operation… one of them being mine."

"When did you contact them? We didn't pick up any transmissions!" The ringleader hissed, glaring at the two dolls.

"It was a gamble," M4 simply stated. She began to explain the whole process of leaving behind a disk, banking on Griffin to find it which gave her location.

"And that is how Griffin operates," M4 said, finishing her explanation. "But now let's discuss how this ends for you."

"How it ends? You don't think it's going to end like this, do you?" Executioner sneered back. "Even if you hide among Griffin's forces… we still have our ways."

"..." M4 was now curious about the meaning behind her response. "What did you say?"

The ringleader chuckled and gave a shrewd grin.

"You still have three friends stranded on the battlefield. You know as well as I do what good bargaining chips they'll make…"

An unknown hatred and fury overtook M4 as she began to rain down bullets upon bullets at the Sangvis' face.

_Clink- clink- clink-_

The hail of bullets ended with her magazine running empty, wishing she had more bullets to fill the ringleader with.

Turning away, she felt her body go weak with exhaustion.

"You shouldn't have brought them up, SF scum…" M4 muttered.

"Heh… it doesn't matter…," Executioner grinned without half a face.

Suddenly, her body began to shudder... as if something- no, someone was controlling her.

She felt a burst of power, some mysterious force aiding her. It was enough to do one more thing.

The torn arm belonging to the giant hand was somehow still intact, its connection enough for one more strike.

"I won't be fading away… without taking one of you... WITH ME!" She screamed, throwing her giant blade at her target.

M4 was alerted to her shout, turning around. The blade was hurdling right towards her.

_She's still moving!_

Something triggered within Blade, who began moving before she had even thrown it. The only thing on his mind was M4.

It was far too late for her to avoid it.

Blade started to run over to her, scooping up the gunblade off the floor as he sprinted. Adrenaline was coursing through him, a race against the blade. He felt the quickening pulse of his core as he neared M4.

M4 clenched her eyes shut as she raised her arms in a desperate attempt to protect herself.

Triggering the gunblade, his final bullet fired through his weapon. The casing of the last bullet tinkered to the floor.

The giant blade cut through the air and was on its course towards M4.

A loud cleaving sound of metal tearing through metal screeched, resounded throughout the raining area.

M4 slowly opened her eyes to find herself perfectly fine.

_D-Did it not land?_

Her eyes grew wide at the figure standing in front of her.

Or what was even left of him.

Standing in place with his gunblade stood Blade.

Executioner's giant sword had cut deep through him from his shoulder to his waist. It would have completely cut off his entire left side if it weren't for his gunblade, still holding up the blade from below.

M4 could only stare at the gruesome sight displayed in front of her. She could even see the inner mechanism of him from where the blades had cut through.

Executioner gave a small grin in victory before completely shutting off. Her body went limp, the whirring of her power disappearing.

Blade felt all his senses go numb, collapsing to his knees with the sword still in him. He felt his system go haywire, his mechanical organs shutting off due to sustaining fatal damage.

Blood was everywhere.

M4 continued to stare before regaining her senses. She darted over to his side, anxious to touch his fragile state.

"W-Why?!" M4 yelled at him, not wanting this outcome. She never intended for others to get hurt in her mission.

Blade refused to move or speak, feeling as if anything could send him shattering to pieces. He gulped as he could see the frantic M4 beside him.

_Why did I end up protecting her? ... __It was because of that ridiculous command, wasn't it… Goddamnit Eden..._

He let out a shuddering breath, slowly closing his eyes. The rapid thuds of helicopters could now be heard.

M4 was too exhausted herself to both panic and look but she knew Griffin's forces were here. She collapsed to the floor. Help was on its way.

_M16… AR15… SOPII… I did it… well, we did it… _she included while looking up at the still Blade.

But she couldn't forgive herself for having him be caught up in this mess.

Months and days of running had finally gotten to her as she closed her eyes.

_Please wait for me. I'll save you all. I swear I won't leave anyone behind..._

The last thing the two heard was the approaching footsteps of Griffin dolls and the audible gasps followed by it.

...

* * *

Alright ~ new chapter! Fight scenes are tough to coordinate so I'm sorry if it seems choppy or out of place. This was one of the first _major _fights I've written. I'll be looking to improve this aspect as we go further into the story ~ ! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and we'll see what'll happen next ~ as per usual, let me know of any misinformation or misconception lore-wise/story so I can go back to fix! Thank you for reading and have a grand day ~


	9. Reveal

**Sector S09 Griffin Frontline Base**

Multiple helicopters were arriving, slowly touching down to the ground. Medical vans already waiting below.

Upon touchdown, soldiers rushed out with two stretchers as they exited the vehicle. They placed two injured dolls inside the vans and sped away to the repair center.

Eden watched this transpire out from a wall of glass, the windows of Gentiane's office. He sighed and placed his forehead against the cold glass pane.

_Thank god they're ok… at least, that's what I'm hoping for…_

A knock on the door brought him back to reality, bringing his attention to the doorway. Gentiane walked in holding two cups of coffee, handing him one as she approached.

He gratefully took it, giving a nod of thanks. Taking a sip, he grimaced at the bitter taste.

"Don't like it?" Gentiane chuckled, taking a large swig of the black coffee. "It keeps me awake, you should try it sometime."

"I'm plenty awake right now…" Eden replied, taking one last sip before setting aside the coffee. He spent the entirety of yesterday's mission anxiously waiting.

Gentiane shrugged and sat in her office chair, turning her computer on.

"Oh yeah, a truck came by today carrying a strange occupant," she mentioned as she clicked around the desktop. "I believe her name was… Kalina?"

Eden nearly choked when he heard this. He started coughing after swallowing the bitter coffee. "I thought I told her to stay back at the base?!"

"You know her?" Gentiane questioned.

"Y-yeah… she's my adjutant," he sighed. "Where is she now?"

"Uh…" The female commander thought to herself. "She told me she could help out with the analysis of the repair costs so I ended up sending her over to the repair center with G36."

"She is good at what she does…" Eden admitted, knowing Kalina's obsession with wealth and fortune. She organizes and calculates every penny they spend. It was almost terrifying how obsessed she is with it.

"What's the current status on those two...," He finally asked, collapsing into an office chair by her desk. It was what had been nagging at him the entire time.

"They're both in a terrible condition…," Gentiane sighed, swiveling her chair to face him. "But they'll make it. It seems those two will survive with the wounds they receive, though the one called Blade nearly had taken fatal damage."

"Thank god…" Eden was relieved to hear the good news. He slumped in his chair in exhaustion. "At least they both made it out alive."

"We were fortunate to have your doll out there with M4," Gentiane said as she finished her coffee. "Who knows what could've happened if he weren't there."

"Yeah, surprised me as well when I heard his voice through the radio call," Eden replied. "Thought we lost him forever."

Gentiane pondered to herself, becoming silent as she started to think.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Eden was curious as to why she suddenly became so quiet.

"Why was he there? More importantly, why were Sangvis forces after him?" She was confused about this issue. "It's not like he holds any value towards them."

He shrugged back, uncertain as well. "Maybe they just wanted to pick off our forces one by one."

"But it's not normal for them to use that many resources for one person," Gentiane argued, countering his statement. "No… there's something that's missing."

She got off her seat and walked up to the window, peering outside to look at the repair center.

"I don't know why… but I've got a bad feeling about the future…," Gentiane murmured as she crossed her arms.

* * *

_*scribble scribble scribble*_

The sounds of a pen against paper filled M4's empty mind.

Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself staring up at a white ceiling. Sluggishly getting up, she rubbed her eyes which were still adjusting to the light. Her head felt heavy with fatigue.

"Ah, you're awake!" A voice called out to her. "16Lab's Elite dolls are really something else! You established compatibility so quickly! Unlike a certain idiot..." They muttered the last part to themselves.

M4 turned to the direction of the sound. The figure that called out to her was a casually dressed oranged-haired girl. In her hands, she held a tablet with a clipboard atop it.

"Um… you are...?" M4 asked, curious as to who she was talking to.

"Hello~! I'm Kalina!" She cheerfully replied, winking at her as she held up two fingers. "I'm the logistic officer belonging to a different frontline command post!"

As she was introducing herself, she wavered in her pose, staggering in place.

"Are you okay?" M4 questioned the condition of the logistic officer in front of her.

"Ah haha! Sorry sorry!" Kalina apologized, nearly slipping to the floor. "I haven't been getting much sleep recently, so I'm a little unsteady on my feet!"

"A-Anyways, you were really badly damaged…," the officer stammered, picking herself back up. "What kind of action did you see?" She held her tablet up, ready to jot down anything.

"..." M4 stayed silent, refusing to answer.

_If she's not one of the commanders, then we have nothing to talk about._

"A lot of things happened, you'll understand once you look at my combat log," she vaguely answered, not wanting to get into detail.

"Uh… while that's true, wouldn't it be better to talk about it directly?" Kalina muttered, off-put by her attitude.

M4 kept to herself and didn't reply. "Ah… could I meet the commander of this base?" She remembered.

"About that… the commander's currently busy directing our dolls as they drive out the SF forces in the region. She might be finished by now though." Kalina sighed as she shrugged. "Due to the agreement, both my and this base's commander can't send over their main forces at present. So we can only rely on ourselves."

"I-is that so…" M4 had nothing to say, wondering what to do next.

_The AR team is currently surrounded by SF forces… the quicker we mount a rescue the better… but this logistics officer doesn't seem too reliable…_

Kalina began to notice M4's anxiousness. "Is this very important? If so, I'll ask the commanders to look for you once I find that the operation is over."

"Ah, no need for that… I'll just go over there myself," M4 said as she started to move off the mattress. She suddenly stopped after feeling a menacing aura radiating from the logistics officer.

"M4," Kalina said with a threatening tone. "When you were brought here, your right arm was destroyed, the electronic muscles on your left leg were shredded, and you had suffered penetrating injuries to 50% of your torso…" She had a sinister smile plastered onto her face.

"In order to help you regain your functionality, we had to install a lot of _**brand new**_ and _**very expensive**_ parts during your repair," the officer made sure to emphasize the high costs.

"While I don't know what kind of mission you've been entrusted with, it would be better for you to give yourself some time to let your Digimind adapt to your new components," she stated, making sure she made her point across to the doll.

"I-I understand… I-I'll just go rest some more…" M4 nervously replied, turning her head away. She backed down and stayed on the bed.

"That's the spirit!" Kalina cheerfully cried out, her personality doing a full 180. "If you end up damaging yourself again, you'll just have to buy the parts yourself and then go for maintenance~!" She threw up her hands and pointed at M4.

"I'm off then! Contact me on the internal comms if anything comes up!" The logistic officer left the room waving goodbye. "Oh and make sure you tell Blade the same thing I told you~!"

"O-okay…" M4 answered back, quickly waving back for her to leave.

_Wait, Blade?_

"Pssst-" a voice whispered out to her. "Is she gone yet?"

M4 jumped in shock at the sound coming from behind her. She quickly turned to see the curtain wall separating each bed partially pulled back to reveal a familiar face poking out.

It was Blade.

"Y-yeah… she just left," M4 answered his question. She was surprised to find him awake and right by her bed.

"Thank god, I swear she doesn't shut up about the repair costs," he chuckled, now fully pulling back the curtains to reveal himself. M4 noticed he was dressed in a patient's attire, a light blue shirt and short pants. Blade was sitting atop a similar bed.

"You're lucky that your parts weren't as expensive as mine," he shuddered, fearing what would've happened if Kalina was to lecture him as she had to M4. "I think I had more broken parts than functioning." Blade felt around his chest and shoulder where Executioner's blade had cut through. Fortunately, it had just missed his vital organs and core by a hair. He was lucky to even be moving.

"I-I apologize!" M4 cried, deeply bowing her head in remorse on the bed.

"H-Huh?" Blade was caught off guard with her sudden response, finding himself looking at a bowing M4. "W-what's wrong?!"

"I had hit you and even threatened you back in the abandoned home, despite the evidence you had to prove yourself innocent…," M4 muttered, raising her head to look him straight in the eye.

"I-It's not entirely your fault… I didn't know you were under such pressure so it's understandable you would be cautious to anyone who came near you," Blade said as he scratched the back of his head. "But yeah… that knee did hurt a bit more than I intended." He chuckled, looking back at the fight.

"I apologize once more," M4 repeated.

"It's alright, I accept it." Blade sighed, waving it off. She stuck out her hand towards him.

"Uh…?" He was confused about what she was doing.

"Let's start over and reintroduce ourselves," she smiled.

"Oh…" Blade was not the one to be social, usually wanting to keep to himself.

"What's the holdup?" M4 asked, still awkwardly sticking her hand out to him.

"Nothing, never thought any doll would greet me like this," he smirked. "Especially a doll like me."

"Technically this wasn't our first meeting… It was uh… a pretty violent meeting," M4 chuckled. "You even went as far as to protect me… for that, I am truly grateful."

"It wasn't me," Blade said back. "An order by my commander forced me to throw myself in front of you."

"Order or not, I still am grateful." She was firm on her apology and appreciation towards him.

"It wasn't… hah...," Blade gave up, taking her hand in his and shook it. "The name's Blade."

M4 accepted his greeting, shaking his hand back. "My name is M4A1, I hope we get to know each other more," she grinned back.

"... Same here," He muttered.

* * *

…

In the hidden Sangvis Ferri command base, Agent came to inform her master of the recent events that transpired. It was not good.

"Master… I am here to tell you of the conditions of Executioner…"Agent kneeled to her master sitting in front of her.

"Don't waste your time, I have already heard of the news," she replied while messing around with computers at the base. "He seems more troublesome than I had anticipated…The virus is still lying dormant within him. Something must have gone wrong."

Her master turned to face her.

"Contact the other ringleaders and inform them of this information."

"Yes, master."

Agent strode away, leaving her master to herself.

"_Infiltrator_…" the figure muttered to themself. "_**Have you forgotten your mission…?**_"

* * *

…

Things got awkward since their last conversation. There was really nothing to talk about.

"..." Blade silently laid on his bed, arms behind his head as he stared at the white ceiling of the medical room.

M4 was the same, sitting up with her knees tucked in close to her chest.

_My friends… _

That was all she could think about the whole time. She looked at her equipment hanging by her bedside and had an idea.

M4 got off the bed and rummaged through her equipment. She pulled out a handheld radio.

Looking around the area, she found a power socket by her bed. Plugging her radio into one of the available outlets, she held it up to her mouth.

_I'm sorry Kalina but I can't rest just yet…_

"AR team, this is M4A1," she spoke into the radio.

No response.

"AR team, AR team… this is M4A1. If anyone can hear me, please respond…" M4 gripped the radio tightly in her hands. She needed to know if they were fine.

_I secretly used this base's comms systems to boost my signal, but I still can't get through… don't tell me they're already..._

Blade sat up, puzzled by her strange behavior. "What's wrong?" He called out to her.

"I'm just trying to contact my team…," M4 sighed as she set the radio down by the bedside table. "Nothing important for you to know."

Blade shrugged it off as he crossed his arms. "If you don't want to talk about it, fine by me."

"I just need to speak to the commander…" M4 anxiously said, apprehensive of her team's situation.

"Yeah… I've got a word with my commander as well," Blade spat, irritated by Eden's previous order. He glanced towards M4's way and stared at her.

"..."

It wasn't like he was completely opposed to the idea of the order to protect her either.

M4 felt uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her. "W-What is it…?"

"Just sorting out some conflicted feelings," he replied, sighing at the thought. A loud beeping started to fill the room. M4 quickly turned to the radio, noticing an incoming transmission signal.

She was immediately on it, tuning into her internal comms.

"Can you hear me, M4? This is AR15," A voice whispered out. M4 recognized the voice as clear as day.

"AR15!" She called out, overjoyed to hear her voice.

"If you're sending such a strong signal, you must have found a Griffin base, right?" AR15 stated.

_Wow, she guessed that… _M4 thought to herself, amazed with AR15's reasoning.

"Yes! Are you alright?" she asked.

"Aren't you going to ask about me, M4~!?" Another voice cried out in the call. "And here I was so worried about you!"

"SOP2!" M4 recognized the other caller. "You're there too?" She grinned happily to herself, finally knowing two of her squad members were fine. Blade continued to curiously watch from the other bed.

"We're fine! We met up long ago!" SOP cheered.

"That's great," M4 smiled "I'm planning on rescuing you first… given I get permission from the commanders here."

"Awesome~!" SOP happily shouted as it heartened M4.

She felt information being uploaded into her mind, sent via an encrypted signal. A map appeared in her mind, displaying the area where her friends were residing. It was an abandoned city, located far from her area.

"Are the coordinates you sent your current position?" asked M4.

"...!?"

On the other side of the call, AR15 felt something wrong.

"AR15?" M4 called out to her, noticing the lack of commentary coming from her.

"Yeah, hurry up and get us, over and out," She bluntly stated, ready to end the call.

"Eeeeeehh?! But I'm not done talking yet!" SOP whined. That was the last thing M4 heard before the transmission closed.

_What happened? _M4 was caught off guard with AR15's unexpected attitude. She figured it was because of the recent events that had transpired, stress building up on everyone's shoulders on this operation. _While there are many things about the situation which remains unclear to me… I managed to make contact with them at least… Now all I have to do is wait for the commander to deploy a rescue mission…_

She sighed and glanced at Blade, who was curiously watching the entire time. Heat crept up to her face, feeling embarrassed at the thought of him watching her the entire time. _He basically just heard me talking to myself..._

"Uh… I don't mean to pry but I figure you made contact with your team?" Blade guessed, remembering the happy grin plastered on her face during the transmission.

"Y-yeah, it seems they're doing fine," M4 answered back. "Though my other friend has not responded…" Her voice trailed in silence, starting to feel uneasy again.

"I'm sure they'll answer back eventually," Blade reassured her, giving her a thumbs up. She grinned once more at his gesture.

A knock at the door brought them both to their attention. It was Kalina.

"Good to know you've woken up Blade," smiled the logistics officer while approaching them. She held up her tablet and scrolled through a document. "I'll have to take M4 here for one last check-up to make sure she's functioning normally."

M4 nodded and stood up to follow Kalina out. Before they left, Kalina stopped to speak to Blade.

"I hope M4 told you to stay put because I'm sure we don't want to be discussing the costs of your repair," she glared, a smile still stuck onto her face. "Especially when you left me alone back at home base to do _**ALL**_ those combat reports by myself."

"D-Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Blade nervously chuckled, remembering that he abandoned Kalina to get away from doing any document duty.

"Alright, good to know!" Kalina cheered, giving him a thumbs up. "I'll be coming for you next after M4's checkup, just to let you know."

"Gotcha," Blade gave an understanding nod. "Hope it goes well M4"

M4 respectively gave a nod back. The two went off and Blade was left to himself.

Collapsing back onto the bed, he started thinking about what he should do to pass the time.

_Sleep? No… hm…_

He stretched out, raising both hands in the air and groaned in pain, his chest still feeling somewhat sore. That's when he noticed the blue square embedded in his lower wrist.

"Oh yeah… I forgot about this," Blade pressed the square, a small translucent menu emerged out of it. Scrolling through, he found the messages tab, an envelope displayed as the icon. Tapping it, he found Kalina's message with the Sangvis Ferri documents attached to it.

_I don't mind reading for a bit. I did ask her to send this to me anyways._

Opening the documents, he was met with the same title he had seen on the helicopter ride.

_**Sangvis Ferri Industrial Manufacturing Company**_

He took his time reading through, laying back on his bed as he slowly scrolled through. The beginning lines he read were the origins of the company and their contributions to World War Three.

Continuing, the next section under the article was labeled _**The Butterfly Incident**_

As he read, he came across a name that felt familiar to him.

_Lycoris…? urgh?! AGH?! _

Blade felt something in his head as if some sort of bug was crawling around. He clawed at his head, unable to get it out. It felt like he was going insane.

A memory resurfaced out of the depths of his Digimind.

It was the voice. They were… crying? Static came once more to interrupt the memory.

_**-..-.._. ... -..-_._-**_

Blade gripped his head tighter, now sitting up, shaking around to get it out of his head.

_Hah!? HAGH!? _

The memory was slowly fading away into a clutter of pixels and static, but before it ended, he could make out a small figure kneeling over a body. The small figure was weeping and looked straight towards him, their crimson eyes now glowing.

_**-.._..._ WILL PAY FOR THEIR CRIMES-..-.._.-**_

"HAH?! Hah… ha…," Blade gasped for air, feeling the sickness slowly go away. It felt like he just went through a terrible nightmare. He gulped and looked at the article still displayed around his wrist.

Reading on, he found out that Sangvis Ferri soon was overtaken by an unknown entity.

There was nothing else further on, everything else seemingly redacted. Kalina had tried her best to get as much public info, Blade thought.

One last paragraph was displayed below, still available to the public. It went on about the current situation of the Sangvis Ferri.

But then he came across an alarming line.

_These Sangvis T-Dolls are, without a doubt, enemies of humanity._

Below it, the logo of Sangvis Ferri was shown.

His eyes widened.

He had seen it before.

Scrambling to open his arm compartment, he found the area where a particular symbol was etched on.

_There's no way..._

Upon inspection, the two were exactly similar.

A polygonal flame representing the Sangvis Ferri.

* * *

...

Hey guys! New chapter, wow~ Been busy with drawing so I apologize for those who wanted to see the story be updated faster! With the quarantine I can start working on more chapters lol - hope you guys stay healthy ~ as usual, if you find any misconceptions/misinformation in the story, let me know so I can go back to fix it. Thank you and stay safe guys!


	10. Recovery

Blade could only stare at the symbol with shock. An unsettling dread began to stir within him.

_**Enemies of Humanity**_

Those very words dug deep into him.

Reaching to touch the etched symbol with his trembling hand, he felt the grooves and the indents of the design. It was real.

He felt his breath quicken in a panic, a cold sweat starting to break out.

That thought sickened him.

Blade covered his face with both hands, eyes peering out between his fingers.

_No… No, this can't be real... There's no way I'm a part of them… Am I really? Nonono… this is a joke... It has to be a fake… Nonononono NO!_

_..._

*_**BEEP* *BEEP *BEEP***_

An irritating sound brought him back to reality. He swerved his head to the direction of the beeping. It was M4's radio.

He stared at it while breathing heavily, waiting for it to stop. It continued to beep on.

_Why isn't M4 answering it? She could answer it through her internal comms…_

Getting out of bed, he staggered up, unsteady on his feet after what he had just seen.

Walking over to the radio which was still plugged into the outlet, he picked it up to inspect it. As he had expected, it was an incoming transmission.

Blade remembered M4 mentioning something about one last friend that hadn't contacted yet.

_They probably cut off her systems during the inspection… I guess I can answer for her…_

Pressing the button, he accepted the call and raised it to his ears.

"Is that you M4? About time you answered!" the caller laughed.

"Oh, this is a frie- uh... an _associate_ of M4A1," Blade stuttered, changing up his words. He felt that it was a better word suited to fit his current relationship with the tactical doll.

"..." The caller suddenly became silent, cautious of who Blade was.

"D-Don't worry! I answered because M4 is going through inspection right now, so she couldn't pick up," he assured. "She made it safely back to a Griffin base and is being treated properly."

"Hm…" the voice hummed, unsure whether to trust him or not. "I see. I'll have to take your word for it."

Blade sighed in relief, finally getting through with them. "The name is Blade, just to let you know. Oh, you don't need to give me yours for the sake of safety."

"Blade…? Interesting name," chuckled the caller. "If M4 trusts you then so will I. M16's the name."

"I'll be sure to tell M4 about you," Blade said. "She's been worried sick over you guys."

"Hah! Sure seems like M4," M16 laughed from the other side. "Honestly, she worries over us constantly… just a trait of hers."

"I could tell," he laughed along.

"Listen, I was fortunate to come across this call. A minute later and you might not have been able to contact me," said M16. "A few Sangvis units are close by. I'll have to turn off the comms soon."

Blade froze at the mention of Sangvis Ferri.

"You ok there buddy?" M16 stated, picking up on his silence. "Well whatever, I'm preparing to take them out quietly, so I'll be going dark." He heard the rustling of a gun.

"O-Oh, ok… wait, what do I tell M4 then?" Blade said, fumbling with the radio in his hands.

"Tell her to not worry about me for now," M16 sighed. "I just got separated from the others while covering the retreat, but the others were still safe the last time I connected with them."

"M4 had managed to get into contact with her other friends," Blade brought up.

"That's good to know." M16 was relieved to know the others were safe as well. "I'd like to talk to you more, but the enemy is coming. I hope we meet later, you seem like a good guy."

"I don't know about that…," he muttered as he raised his arm to look at the Sangvis symbol etched into his metallic body.

"Hm…?" M16 couldn't pick up what he had last said. "Alright, going dark…" The transmission ended with a beep.

Blade placed the radio down and sighed.

Taking a glance at the symbol, he knew that no one should find out about it. If word got out of his true identity, whether he _was_ a Sangvis or not, it would be the end. He would be caught and investigated. The worst-case scenario would be getting disassembled.

He needed to cover it up.

Blade began walking around the medical room looking for anything to use. He opened cabinets, drawers, cases, anything.

_Come on… there's gotta be something here… come on…_

As he was pulled open a medical cabinet, he heard a noise by the entranceway. Turning his head, he realized Kalina and M4 had just arrived and were staring at him in confusion.

"Uh… What are you doing?" asked the logistics officer.

"Oh, I was just um… looking for something to ease the soring!" Blade quickly thought of an excuse. "I figured I could find something around here to help." He nervously chuckled, hoping they would be convinced.

"Sure…" Kalina muttered, still confused with him. "Well, I just finished M4's checkup so you're up next." She beckoned him over with a quick wave. "Maybe the checkup will help fix that problem."

"I-I'm sure it's fine, there's no need to look me over," Blade assured her, changing up his words. He couldn't afford for them to find that marking on his body.

"I'm not taking no for an answer. We need to get you looked over. Those parts we installed into you might not be compatible with your body, thus leading to a malfunction. It could seriously hurt you or possibly get you killed on the battlefield," Kalina insisted.

"I'm telling you… I'm feeling perfectly fine right now!" He rebutted, not taking any chance of visiting the engineers.

"Listen, even if you are feeling "perfectly fine" right now, you might not feel the same in the future!" Kalina was becoming frustrated with how adamant he was with not getting a checkup. "And didn't you tell me, you were okay with a checkup after I told you about it?"

"I-I just suddenly didn't feel like I needed one... you know?" Blade muttered, suddenly becoming cornered.

"No. I don't know." Kalina sighed.

"Well, I'm firm on not going, so let me just get my equipment already," he began walking to the entrance where Kalina and M4 were standing.

Suddenly, M4 stomped right over to him and brought her face close to his.

"W-Woah?!" He yelped in surprise, backing away from the tactical doll. "H-How was your checkup M4?"

M4 smiled at him.

"It went fine. I can now go back to the frontlines." Then she began to slowly approach him. "For someone who nearly was cut in half, you're quite stubborn on not getting a checkup."

"T-That was nothing. I've had worse." Blade stuttered, backing away step by step as she got closer.

"Hmm~ really?" M4 gave him a blank smile, something terrifying behind it.

"Y-you know, M16 called right? She said she was fine when I picked it up for you!" He quickly thought.

"Oh, I see~"

M4 was unphased by it.

She suddenly got behind him and locked his arms in place, pulling at it.

"Wha- hey! Ouch- ow ow ow! That hurts!" Blade hissed in pain.

"I can't have my protector dying in the middle of fighting, so let's go Kalina." M4 began pushing him out of the room and through the corridors. "There's no way you're "fine" after taking a blow from a sword of that size. We're getting you checked up."

"M4! W-We can talk about this! Please!" He begged while restrained.

"We can talk in the repair room." M4 was intent on getting him checked up.

Kalina could only watch with awe as she trailed behind them.

"What's up with those two…?"

…

Upon arriving at the repair checkup, Blade was forcefully hauled in by M4.

"Alright, alright! I get it! Can you let me go?" He muttered, his arm now numb from her pinning it into an awkward angle.

"We're here anyway, so don't try to escape," M4 said, finally releasing her hold on him. Blade shook his arm around to get the artificial blood flowing through again.

Kalina walked past the two and looked around the engineering lab. "Professor? Are you here?"

"Ah! You came later than I had expected!" cried a familiar voice in the back of the labs. Tumbling and quick footsteps could be heard. "W-Woah!" The tinkering of metal falling to the floor echoed around the room.

Out emerging from the end of the room was a scientist that Blade recognized.

"Aster?" He called out, surprised to see the familiar face. Just like his last encounter with Aster, his long hair was all messy as always, still donning his white lab coat but now smeared with oil and dust.

"Ah, Blade? I've been waiting for you! Right this way," the scientist beckoned just him over.

Blade listened and entered a new room that was decorated similarly to anyone visiting a doctor. A reclining seat put in the center of the room, a sink with various equipment atop it, a medical waste bin to get rid of any syringes of that sort, and various health posters spread around the room.

He took a seat atop the bench-like table and awaited for Aster's instructions.

"It looks like you've been installed a multitude of new parts," the scientist hummed as he entered the room with him. He was flipping through a report of Blade's repair details.

Blade began to notice a certain glimmer in Aster's eyes as he began eyeing him from top to bottom. "W-what's this inspection going to be like?" He nervously asked.

"You know, I've been quite intrigued by the production of male tactical dolls. I'd like to gather every bit of information while I can," the scientist chuckled, suddenly locking the door behind him. Blade felt his core drop, unsettled by Aster's attitude.

"I cannot let this moment go to waste, you see?" The scientist pulled out two blue nitrile gloves and wore them with a snap. He began slowly approaching him with an inquisitive look.

Blade backed away, suddenly fearing for his dignity rather than his identity being revealed. "W-Wait! Come on?! Wait, please! Nonononono!"

From the other side of the door stood M4 and Kalina. They started to hear various noises coming from inside the room. Shouts of help and the clattering of equipment.

The two waited for his check-up to be over, standing in silence as they continued to hear the desperate cries of help.

…

"I… I-I feel violated…"

Out came a defeated pale Blade, looking as if a soul had left its body. With him was Aster, throwing away the nitrile gloves into a waste bin.

"I have collected plenty of information from that one checkup," smiled Aster as he scribbled something onto a sheet on his clipboard. "You never get an opportunity to look into a male T-doll up in this area. Quite rare I say."

_S-Somehow… he didn't manage to find the hidden compartment in my arm..._

Blade felt someone pat his back which he turned to see M4 nodding along.

"You too?" He said.

"Yup."

They shared a moment of silence.

Kalina sighed at the dramatic pair and approached the scientist, her arms crossed. "So is he fine?"

Ruffling his messy hair, Aster looked through what he wrote down. "From what I've tested, all the parts seem to be functioning normally." He turned to Blade. "If you find any discomfort from anywhere, let Kalina or the commanders know so I can get it checked up. Same with you M4."

They both nodded back.

"Well you're both good to head off now, I'll have to see what I can do with this new information," Aster gave a disturbing grin. "Such an abundance of data! I wonder what I can do with it!" He headed into a separate part of the lab.

M4 and Blade could only look at him with disgust.

"Was he always like that?" Blade shuddered, wishing he could wipe his Digimind's memory.

"Yes, he's been notorious for being a bit… erm… _touchy_ with his patients," Kalina sighed as she turned her tablet on. "Oh! Looks like the commanders are available now. How about you guys grab something to eat before you head up to meet the commanders?"

"Sure why not?" Blade shrugged, feeling hungry at the mention of food.

"We still need to change out of our clothes," M4 brought up, pulling at her dress. She wanted to be back in her equipment. "Let's head back. I want to meet up with the commander first."

She quickly walked out of the room, heading back to change.

Blade knew why she was in such a hurry. M16's words echoed in his head.

"_Honestly, she worries over us constantly… just a trait of hers."_

He sighed and Kalina frowned at the exiting M4. "Well someone's eager to meet the commanders, huh?"

"I guess so… I'll go get changed and check up on her," Blade said, heading out to catch up to M4.

Kalina watched as he left the room.

She was left to herself.

"Kalina? You there?" A voice called out from her headset hanging around her neck.

"Oh! Sorry, was talking to someone," Kalina hastily wore it on and answered back. "Yeah, they both got checked up and are going to be heading to the meeting room."

Kalina started scrolling through her tablet as she was talking and paused.

"HUH!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE MORE COMBAT REPORTS!?"

* * *

…

_***Bang* *Bang***_

Two shots rang throughout an empty apartment complex.

The sounds of boots crunching through the shattered glass across the floor were all that could be heard after.

Emerging from the shadows was a doll with an eyepatch and a distinct orange strand of hair. She reloaded her gun and tossed the empty magazine away, clattering to the dirty floor. On their back was a strange rectangular-box they carried with them everywhere.

"ha..." The doll sighed.

M16 had just cleared the last targets of a nearby Sangvis squad.

"That's the last of em…" She muttered while approaching the fallen Vespid. Looking down at it, she kicked the lifeless automaton. Assured that it was dead, she searched the body for anything she could use.

Nothing.

"Gah… useless," M16 growled. "Damn things don't even carry anything important." Standing back up, she adjusted the strange packaging strapped over her shoulder.

Heading back into one of the rooms she was holding up in, M16 placed the packaging down with a loud clunk. She swept the floor of debris using her shoe and sat down against the wall.

M16 started to reminisce about the brief conversation she had with the strange fellow.

"Blade… huh, interesting name," M16 chuckled at the unfamiliar name. _What an unusual name to have_.

_If he really is an acquaintance of M4 then it should be fine… _

Pulling out a small canteen from a hidden pocket inside her jacket, she popped it open and took a sip.

"Ah... that's the stuff," she let out an exhausting breath. Shaking the flask, there wasn't much left. "Agh… it's not regular I get this stuff."

Inside the flask was some Jack Daniels she had secretly kept for a while now. She couldn't afford to drink it all now, taking sips at it from time to time.

M16 stored it away and prepared to take a quick nap, tired from the fighting and traveling. Tucking herself with her jacket, she closed her eyes.

_M4, Sop, AR… I'm counting on you guys..._

* * *

…

Blade had just finished changing into his clothes. It was rather quick. The apparent black and white clothing similar to Sangvis dolls was all he had. He tightened the leather belts strapped across his chest to keep his gunblade in place.

"You done?" He called over to M4.

Right now, they were changing in the patient's room where they had been resting. The thin curtain was all that separated him and M4.

Blade gulped as he could see the shadows of M4 through the curtains. He swung his head away and made sure to not look.

After a while, M4 called out from the other side.

"I just finished. Are you ready?"

"Y-yeah… I'm done changing," He pulled back the curtains and saw M4 looking through her assault rifle.

"Let's head over to the meeting room," M4 said, satisfied with the gun's condition. She headed out of the room with Blade following her.

"Do you know where it is?" He asked, wondering if she even knew where it was.

"Uh… I'm not sure of myself. Let's wander around until we find someone…" she muttered back, looking clueless. Picking a direction, she went down the hallway. Blade sighed and followed her.

...

They had been walking around the facility for a couple of minutes still lost.

"This frontline base is surprisingly big," M4 muttered to herself. "I didn't expect that…" She was about to turn the corner until...

"Hey, watch it!" Blade pulled her back to him and managed to stop her from bumping into a small figure.

"W-woah… thanks, Blade" she said, caught off guard with his sudden reflexes. "You can uh… let go now?"

Blade realized he was holding her and quickly let go. "Oh… sorry, it just kinda happened on… instinct?" She gave him a questioning look and turned to confront the figure in front of her.

"Sorry I didn't see you there," M4 apologized to the small doll in front of her. Blade stared at his hand, the one that pulled M4 back.

_That… wasn't me…? Is Eden's command still in effect? There's no way._

"It's okay, it's my fault for nearly running into you…," the doll giggled, taking a glance at who she ran into. "Ah! It's you! You're that elite doll!"

"Huh…? M-Me?" M4 stuttered, surprised with the doll's energy.

"You've recovered already? That's wonderful!" The doll gleamed with excitement.

"And you are…?" M4 asked as another doll came into view. A tall and broad doll took her place behind the smaller doll.

"This is tactical doll MP5," said the figure. "By the way, I'm MG3. She's the one who found the data disc you left behind, which was how we managed to recover you."

MG3 patted MP5's head. "When we first found you, we thought we'd have to redownload your backup Digimind…" she sighed in relief, knowing M4 came out all right.

_I-I feel like I'm being ignored here… _Blade thought, waiting patiently behind M4 for their conversation to end so they can be on their way to the meeting room.

"In any case, it's good that you've recovered," MG3 laughed. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Actually… we're both looking for the base commander," M4 replied as she pointed back at Blade who had his arms crossed, looking impatient. He felt someone pat his shoulder. It was a doll eating a chocolate bar.

"Ahhh, weah wooking fow huh too!" the doll spoke with her mouth full. It was FNC, a glutton with a sweet tooth, particularly for chocolate.

"What?" Blade couldn't make out a single word she said.

"EEK!" FNC shrieked, gulping down the chocolate. She was scared by Blade's appearance, his resemblance to a Sangvis doll's.

"What a coincidence!" MG3 chortled in. "We were just heading there ourselves!"

"... huh?"

M4 and Blade suddenly found themselves walking with a group of dolls, all heading to meet the commander.

As usual, Blade trailed behind them, hands in his pockets as he stared at the backs of his supposed "companions".

_Griffins… if I were only built and born into this world as one… _He rubbed at the skin concealing the hidden compartment in his arm.

Blade knew if his secret was ever to be revealed, they would all turn their backs on him. He was only putting his life at risk by associating himself with these dolls.

"So you're the doll Eden and Gentiane speaks of." A voice called out to him.

He turned to see a doll dressed as a maid walking up by him.

"You know him?" Blade asked, surprised to hear his commander's name.

"I suppose. He's a friend of my master," sighed G36, sounding as if she's had enough.

"Hm?" He could only wonder what she was implying until they reached the meeting room. That's when he realized what she meant

A group of children ran past them, jumping with energy. He noticed that they were dolls as well, each harboring a child-like appearance.

"Come on, come on! Let's go there together!" MG3 beckoned them over. Blade walked up to M4's side as they stopped at the doorway of the meeting room. The double doors slid open, revealing a room filled with rows of foldable chairs, a podium and a large white screen displayed against the wall.

The child-like dolls ran into the room first, eager to see their commander. "Commander! We're here!" they shouted in unison.

_Huh? There's nobody here… _Everyone looked around to see the room seemingly empty. Suddenly, G36 stomped in between through M4 and Blade to the corner of the room.

They heard cries of pain and yelping. "Ow! Owwww! G36!? Quit hitting me!"

"Making my master an excellent commander is also part of my job," the maid sharply stated, pulling a sheet off the ground. "The briefing is about to begin, commander. How much longer are you going to sleep?"

"J-Just a little bit longer! Please!" A voice begged out to the maid doll. Revealed underneath the sheets was Gentiane, her hair in a mess.

"The last operation went on for far too long! Let me sleep in for today!" Gentiane cried as she reached out to retrieve the blanket back but G36 made sure to keep it out of her reach. "Please! Eden didn't let me take a break!"

"At least he's responsible for what he does," sighed the maid.

"Huh? Did somemun saym mah name?" Another voice muttered in the opposite corner of the room. A disheveled Eden poked his head out of his sleeping bag.

G36 wanted to take back to words she had just said.

_A-are these the commanders…? _M4 couldn't believe what she was witnessing. Blade had a suspicion it would come to this. He walked up to Eden and kicked him awake.

"Ow! Owowowo! Blade?! H-hey, I'm awake! I'm awake!" Eden jumped, fixing his clothes as he got out of his sleeping bag.

"What was that for?" Eden sleepily grumbled.

"I just felt like it," Blade bluntly stated. "Plus the conference is going to start soon. So you should start waking up now."

Gentiane finally got up and scratched her head. She noticed the two strange figures that stood out from the usual crowd of dolls.

"Hm? What are you two doing here?" Gentiane called out to M4 and Eden.

M4 approached the female commander. "I'm very sorry, commander… but I have information that I need to report-"

"I've already seen your combat log. You have three members of your team who are stranded," the commander quickly brought up. "And you currently need us to provide support for the rescue."

"Y-yes but-" M4 tried to speak but was cut off once more.

"You want us to help you, isn't that right?" Gentiane guessed.

"Yes… please help us," M4 muttered back. Blade walked up to her side.

"So you're Eden's "special" case…" Gentiane crossed her arms and looked at him from bottom to top. "A male tactical doll… definitely not new, but quite rare."

Blade glared back at the commander and both their eyes came in contact.

"What? Do you have something against me?" He hissed at the commander.

"Psst! Watch your tone!" M4 muttered under her breath. She elbowed his side to get her point across.

"Ack?!" Blade pathetically crumpled to the ground, shaking as he was holding his side. It seems his wounds were still sore. He was holding back tears.

"Uh… I have nothing against you. I was just stating what I know. Just call me Gentiane," she introduced herself.

"As you can see, I'm the commander of this base and the other commander is a colleague of mine." Gentiane pointed at the approaching Eden. "We're both responsible for charging out operation "sugar cube". Therefore, Helian and Persica have already told me everything."

M4 nodded and listened on.

Eden attempted to help Blade get back up by pulling him up from his arm but was met with unexpected resistance.

"I-I don't need help!" Blade defensively reeled back, tucking his arm close to his chest.

"Woah! Alright, was just trying to help," Eden stuttered.

"I can take care of myself."

Blade stood back up. He noticed everyone was staring at him. It was embarrassing and nerve-racking.

_I'm acting way too nervous_

"You okay Blade?" M4 asked, surprised with how jittery he was. "Maybe you didn't get enough rest…?"

He dismissively waved it off, shaking his head. "It's nothing. I'm perfectly fine."

"..." Gentiane frowned as she tapped the ground. "I'd like to continue with the meeting just to let you know."

"S-Sorry…" Blade muttered, realizing how he made the room feel so awkward and tense.

"But what about the rescue mission-" M4 turned to face Gentiane, but was promptly stopped with an open palm.

"If you're really worried… then I'd suggest you tell me something which I don't know." She crossed her arms and gave the elite doll a stern look.

"For instance… the coordinates you secretly received via the base's comm systems."

* * *

Thank you for reading! I hope you guys have been keeping yourself healthy and safe! Hopefully, you've been enjoying the story and if you find any misconceptions/misinformation, please let me know so I can fix that. Have a great day!


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